Application of Dimensional Printing Effects to Items Created in a Collage-Based Editor

ABSTRACT

In a photo collage editor implemented in software residing on and executable from a digital medium, a method for configuring a project for three dimensional printing includes the steps (a) displaying in the editor, a page canvas for editing, (b) selecting or highlighting an image or item on the page canvas, (c) invoking a dimensional print effect configuration interface by selecting an interactive button on a toolbar displayed automatically as a result of step (b) or by implementing keyboard shortcut to execute the interface, and (d) selecting an option for applying one or more three dimensional effects from the interface.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

The present application is a divisional application of co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 12/838,347, filed Jul. 16, 2010, which is anon-provisional application to provisional application 61/227,042, filedJul. 20, 2009. Priority is claimed to the priority date of the parentapplication, and the entire disclosure of the parent application isincorporated herein at least by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the field of electronic commerce andpertains particularly methods for applying three dimensional printeffects to project items subject to edit within an online editor forcreating and editing image and or text-based projects.

2. Discussion of the State of the Art

In the field of electronic commerce also known as ecommerce, there areproject-oriented Websites where users may create and edit worksincluding models, poems, art, and photo-based products. Websitescatering to photo-based editing promote online publishing and onlinetransacting relative to printed works. The current state of suchelectronic services leaves much to be desired. Many of these serviceshave fixed templates and multiple interfaces for project editing, makingit tedious to get the desired output.

Other problems with the current state of photo-based services includeinflexibility of the editor interface relative to process steps forediting content. Most such processes are not transparent and could leadto errors in printing and therefore in the final output product.Furthermore, each typical project is initiated from scratch in a waythat does not promote efficiency from start to finish of a project.

One problem with current online editors is that certain enhancedfeatures for print media like three-dimensional printing options are notavailable to the user creating the project.

Therefore, what is clearly needed is method for application of threedimensional printing effects to items created in an online collage-basededitor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problem stated above is that efficiency and flexibility aredesirable in creating and editing photo-based projects over a datanetwork, but many of the conventional means for photo editing, such asPhotoshop type editors, also create inefficiencies and can result inerror-prone finished products. The inventors therefore consideredfunctional elements of a photo-based collage editing system, looking forelements that exhibit interoperability that could potentially beharnessed to provide a more efficient and flexible user experience butin a manner that would not create errors or more inefficiency.

Every networked collage editing system is driven by repeat and new usershoping to create products that preserve memories of family and friends,one by-product of which is a healthy demand for computing resources anddata storage resources. Most such systems employ storage repositoriesand powerful servers to manage activity and data uploaded to the serviceby many users, and runtime servers, project editing softwareapplications, and data storage facilities are typically part of suchapparatus.

The present inventor realized in an inventive moment that if, at thepoint of printing, work could be reduced by automatically orsemi-automatically applying three dimensional printing effects to itemsunder edit before print, a significant increase in efficiency andreductions in print errors might result. The inventor thereforeconstructed a unique process for applying three dimensional effects toitems created in an online-collage-based editor that allowed users toquickly populate and print a photo and or text-based product, butconstrained time delays and potential errors to an absolute minimum.

A significant improvement in the user experience results, with noimpediment to the overall process created.

Accordingly, in an aspect of the present invention in a photo collageeditor implemented in software residing on and executable from a digitalmedium, a method is provided for configuring a project for threedimensional printing. The method includes the steps (a) displaying inthe editor, a page canvas for editing, (b) selecting or highlighting animage or item on the page canvas, (c) invoking a dimensional printeffect configuration interface by selecting an interactive button on atoolbar displayed automatically as a result of step (b) or byimplementing keyboard shortcut to execute the interface, and (d)selecting an option for applying one or more three dimensional effectsfrom the interface.

In a preferred aspect of the method, the editor is accessible in theform of a graphics user interface (GUI) through a Website on theInternet. In this aspect, in step (a), the page is displayed in a viewport in the editor. In one aspect in step (b), there are one or morephotos with or without text captioning. In one aspect in step (b) thereare one or more items including one or more text boxes with text, one ormore frames or borders, and one or more stickers.

In one aspect of the method in step (c), the configuration interface isexecuted through a styles menu, dimensional print effect being an optionon that menu. In one aspect in step (c), the configuration interface isa standalone application. In one aspect, the application ofthree-dimensional printing is automated and is transparent to the user.

In another aspect, the application of three-dimensional printing is atleast in part manual and user initiated.

In one aspect, the method further includes a step (e) for invoking analgorithm that reads the photo color histogram and/or other photo dataand creates several thumbnail images of the image or item under edit,each thumbnail image for preview whereby each thumbnail exhibits adifferent stock dimensional print effect as it would otherwise look.

According to another aspect of the present invention a method isprovided for automatic generation of a three dimensional print effectfor an item in an image editor. The method includes the steps (a)analyzing data relative to the item, (b) consulting one or more rulesrelative to the analysis of step (a), (c) determining from theconsultation of step (b) which areas of the item should be raised and towhat depth, and (d) generating a depth map for the item, the depth mapinstructing a printer which portions of the item to raise and by whatadditional depth to achieve the three dimensional print effect.

In a preferred aspect of the method, the editor is accessible in theform of a graphics user interface (GUI) through a Website on theInternet. In one aspect in step (a), the data analyzed is a colorhistogram or other color data. In one aspect in step (b), the rules aregeneric to the item type selected for application of three dimensionalink effect. In one aspect in step (b), some rules describe a defaultapplication of three dimensional effect to all of a same type of item.

In a preferred aspect of the method in step (d), the depth values of theraised pixels are persisted along with the pixel data. In one aspect instep (d), the depth map is sent to a network printer hosted on theinternet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an architectural overview of a communications networksupporting network-based graphics manipulation and production of imageand or text-based products according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary screen shot of an introduction page of Website ofFIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screen shot of a login/sign-up page presented toa user as a result of interaction with the introduction page.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary screen shot of a welcome page presented to a useras a result of successful login to the site.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary screen shot of a project configuration pagepresented to the user as a result of interaction with the Create optionof the page of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary screenshot of size-selection page for selectingan initial orientation and size for a project.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary screen shot of a theme-selection page forselecting an initial theme for a project.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary screen shot of a Mixbook Editor™ (MBE) userinterface (UI) for editing a project in progress according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary screen shot of an add-photo page for acquiringphotos to add to a project according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is an elevation view of a photo spread of a photo-book projectexhibiting a dynamically editable text box according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 11 is an elevation view of the photo spread of FIG. 10 with thetext box moved to a position of conflict relative to a print parameterapplied to a printing process for the photo-book.

FIG. 12 is an elevation view of a photo spread of a project illustratingreal-time text color application using theme colors.

FIG. 13 is an elevation view of photo spread of the same projectillustrating real-time font color change using system colors.

FIG. 14 is an elevation view of a photo spread illustrating aphoto-editing frame and intuitive photo panning interface according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an elevation view of the photo spread of FIG. 14 with a styleediting interface 1501 invoked from photo editing toolbar according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary screen shot of a contributor invitationinterface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an exemplary screenshot of a proxy-login interface thatenables a user or contributor to gain access to a personal account tolink to or otherwise acquire access to photos available through thepersonal account.

FIG. 18 is an exemplary screen shot of an add friends interface foradding friends to the service of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an exemplary screen shot of a preview interface forpreviewing a finished project according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 is an exploded screenshot of the background selection portion ofthe user interface of FIG. 8 including an advanced background touch-upsection according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a page-on-canvas view illustrating a relative page coordinatesystem according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a grouping of portrait pagesizes exhibiting similar aspect ratios.

FIG. 23 is a process flow chart illustrating steps for displayingproject page content at a core aspect ratio and optimizing the contentfor printing at a specified size.

FIG. 24 is a process flow chart illustrating steps for migrating contentfrom one aspect ratio grouping to another aspect ratio grouping.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating system architecture forinterpolating sample and default data into a project template using aspecial markup language according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 26 is a front view of a photo frame that can be automatically sizedto fit a photo according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a front view of photo frame automatically-sized about aphoto.

FIG. 28 is an exemplary screenshot of an editing interface displaying aphoto spread across multiple pages (front cover, back cover, and spine)according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an asset recommendation systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is an architectural diagram illustrating a printing networkaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a process flow chart illustrating steps for printing largeoutput images according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 is an elevation view of a photo book project undergoing editingfor dimensional printing according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventors provide a unique network-based graphics-manipulationsystem along with a set of novel manual and automated methods andprocesses that enable users operating network-capable computingappliances to efficiently create a variety of image and or text-basedproducts with or without collaborative effort. The systems and methodsof the present invention are described in enabling detail using thefollowing examples, which may represent more than one embodiment of theinvention.

System Architecture

FIG. 1 is an architectural overview of a communications network 100supporting network-based graphics manipulation and production of imageand or text-based products according to embodiments of the presentinvention. Communications network 100 includes a wide-area-network (WAN)that is in most embodiments the well-known Internet network. WAN 101 maybe a private, corporate, or publicly-accessible data network withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention. WAN 101may be referred to throughout this specification as the Internet 101.Internet 101 is further illustrated by way of a network backbone 116,which represents all of the lines, equipment, and access points thatmake up the World Wide Web (WWW) as a whole including any connectedsub-networks. Therefore, there are no geographic limits to practice ofthe present invention.

Internet backbone 116 supports a Web server (WS) 105. It is noted hereinthat all network-capable computing appliances such as physicalcomputers, servers, and other computing machines discussed in thisspecification shall be assumed to contain, be coupled to, or otherwisehave accessible thereto, one or more digital mediums adapted to containthe data and software required to support and enable the primaryfunction or functions (in the case of multi-task machines) of thecomputing appliance.

WS 105 is an electronic information server connected to Internet 101 andadapted to server information pages or Web pages as they are known inthe art. WS 105 may be maintained by a third party that provides aWebsite hosting service. In one embodiment a service provider providingthe service of the present invention owns and maintains WS 105. WS 105hosts a Website 106, through which, users may access elements of thepresent invention. Website 106 is adapted to provide authenticatedaccess to users who create, publish, print, and purchase image and ortext-based products such as photo-books, photo-cards, photo-calendars,photo-posters, and related products.

Because all of the products are image and or text-based and createdusing a graphics manipulation system provided by the inventors as anetwork-based software application, the relative term descriptive of theoverall process and for the providing company is Mixbook™. The termMixbook™ may be used throughout this specification to describe theoverall image and or text-based product creation and editing process ofthe invention, the Website through which the process is made accessibleto authorized users, and the service-providing company.

Communications network 100 also includes an access network (AN) 104,which may represent any data network adapted to provide access toInternet network 101. AN 104 may be a public-switched-telephone-network(PSTN) or some other public or private telephony network. AN 104 may bea local wireless network, a cellular time division multiple access(CDMA) network, a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) network, or any othercandidate access network through which one may access Internet 101.

User may access WS 105, more particularly Mixbook™ Website 106, throughan Internet access facility 107 in access network (AN) 104 and anInternet access line 120. Internet access facility 107 may be maintainedand operated by an Internet service provider (ISP) or by a wirelessInternet service provider (WISP), which ever is appropriate for anyparticular Internet connection. Users who might access WS 105 arerepresented herein as network-capable computing appliances, moreparticularly, a laptop computer 122, a desktop computer 123, and a smarttelephone 124. Each mentioned appliance may be assumed to beInternet-capable by way of one or more network browsing applicationsresiding thereon and executable there from.

Desktop computer 123 is connected to an Internet-connection server 107by way of an Internet access line 126. Desktop computer 123, onceconnected, may access Website 106 hosted on WS 105. Desktop computer 123has one or more input devices (not illustrated) coupled thereto such asa keyboard, a mouse, and a microphone for (Speech-to-Text Commands).Smart phone 124 may connect wirelessly via a wireless link 127 to anInternet service provider (also represented by machine 107) thatestablishes a wireless Internet connection like public WiFi for example.Smart phone 124 may or may not include a keyboard input device. In oneembodiment smartphone 124 has a touch-screen display. Laptop 122 isillustrated as connected wirelessly to Internet 101 via WISP 107 usingwireless link 128. Laptop 122 includes a keyboard and/or other inputdevices as may be appropriate.

Laptop 122, desktop 123, and smartphone 124 each include an Internetbrowser application (not illustrated) for accessing and navigatingnetwork 101. Backbone 116 supports a runtime server (RS) 109 adapted tohost a Mixbook™ user-interface 110. User interface 110 is accessible toall Website visitors for the purpose of creating, manipulating, andprinting image and or text-based products such as a photo collage book,for example. Users accessing Website 106 who are ready to create aproduct may be re-directed to RS 109.

Each user authorized to create and publish an image and or text-basedproduct using the site may receive a small download containing a compactediting package known as the Mixbook™ editor (MBE) to the inventors. MBE125 a is installed as a browser-based extension or plug-in in oneembodiment on desktop computer 123. Laptop 122 has an instance of MBE125 b installed as a browser-based extension or plug-in. Smartphone 124has an instance of MBE 125 c installed as a browser-based extension orplug-in. An instance of MBE may be customized for any computingappliance that may access the Internet and through which a user may seeand edit content. Therefore, MBE instances 125 (a-c), though the samebasic extension or plug-in, may contain differences based on hostrequirements. In one embodiment of the present invention there are nosoftware downloads required in order to practice the present invention.In this case the Mixbook™ editing Software (SW) may be server hostedonly. In another embodiment, the Mixbook™ editing SW may be ported to adesktop application such as Adobe Air™ and thus be operated as a desktopapplication. In one embodiment the SW is included as an add-on featureto any suitable desktop application and may be installed on a computinghost with that desktop application from a removable medium such as a CDROM, for example.

Service provider facility 107 includes a connected data repository 108labeled Data. Data repository 108 contains all of the customer contactand billing information for the Internet service provider. One withskill in the art will appreciate the many possible internet connectionschemes. It is preferred in most embodiments that user have a high speedInternet connection for the purpose of manipulating and editinggraphics, which can be bandwidth intensive. The inventors provide one ormore innovative solutions for saving bandwidth while editing images andimage products online making the entire experience more efficient andeasier for users practicing the invention.

The Mixbook™ Website 106 establishes a community-based portal and socialinteraction site that revolves around creating, editing, sharingpublishing, printing, and purchasing image and or text-based productscreated online by one or more user working in collaboration together.Users such as those operating appliances 122-124 connect online andnavigate to WS 105 to access Website 106. When any user determines tocreate an image and or text-based product like a photo album, forexample, they are directed to an appropriate portal server like RS 109hosting Mixbook™ user interface (UI) 110. UI 110 is adapted to provideall of the assets needed to create and publish complete image and ortext-based products. Image and or text-based products created throughWebsite 106 include products containing images uploaded by one or moreauthorized users. Any work in progress or completed is termed a project.A project may be initiated by one user whereby other users are theninvited by the initiating to join the creative experience incollaboration and those users may contribute their own photos to theproject. Such a project may be published for viewing by all or some ofthe community. Finished projects may be printed and distributed as “hardproducts” available for purchase by members of the community.

In one embodiment persistent storage of graphics uploaded by communitymembers to be included into projects is obtained (leased) through athird-party storage provider. In this example a simple storage service(s3) data storage cloud 102 is illustrated and made available for use bya third-party service provider such as Amazon™. A storage server 112 isillustrated within S3 cloud 102 and has connection to Internet backbone116. Storage server (SS) 112 may be one of many servers includingassociated mass data repositories connected to SS 112 such as repository113 contained within storage cloud 102. In this logical representationall of the graphics (photos) that are uploaded to insert into projectsare stored in a repository such as repository 113 in storage cloud 102.Repository 113 may be an optical, magnetic, or some other type of datastorage facility. In one embodiment the mass computations required forreal-time and transparent editing and collaborating on multiple projectsare performed by virtual machine instances 120 in a computing cloud 103.In another embodiment the service host may maintain one or more powerfulcomputing machines and storage devices for performing computations andfor storing graphics for users of the service.

In use of the present invention a user such as one operating one ofcomputing appliances 122-124 connects online and accesses Mixbook™Website 106 and logs into the site. If the user has already registeredand created a project, a Web page personalized to that user is servedthat includes all of that user's projects in the latest states ofprogress. The user may enter any project for which she or he hasauthorization to contribute to and may review, edit, or otherwise workthose projects. Photos uploaded by the user to include into projects maybe stored in cloud 102 and served to the projects when needed by thesystem. Any computing such as editing resizing, alterations, and so onmay be handled in cloud 103. A user may, through Website 106, authorizeother users registered with the service of the invention to collaborateon a project initiated by that user. In one embodiment a user having aproject initiated may invite other potential users to the site so theymay, with permissions, enter the site and collaborate with that user.

In one embodiment of the present invention photos that are stored on theInternet can be represented in any online project provided the user hasauthorized access to those photos. For example, a user who has one ormore accounts to third-party social interaction networks like MySpace™,Facebook™, Photobucket™, Flicker™, or similar sites may use photos ofregistered friends that they are allowed to access in their own personalprojects. These photos do not have to be uploaded to the service of thepresent invention. Rather, these photos can be accessed from theirpresent storage locations anywhere on the Internet provided that thestorage system is online.

Internet backbone 116 supports a Facebook™ server (FB) 114 coupled to adata repository 115 for storing images and other graphics. Internetbackbone 116 supports a Myspace™ server (MS) 111 coupled to a datarepository 117 adapted to store images and other graphics. Backbone 116supports a Flicker™ server (FL) 118 coupled to a data repository 119adapted to store images and other graphics. Any of these images can beserved to an active project by the respective servers directly fromtheir storage locations. Any of these images that are altered duringproject work or collaboration may be subsequently saved to third-partys3 storage cloud 102 in repository 113 controlled by SS 112.

In one embodiment of the present invention Mixbook™ Website 106 includesor has working access to a SW print engine (not illustrated here) thatis adapted to render any Mixbook™ project for professional printing. Inone embodiment printing is performed by a third-party provider who mayalso ship or distribute finished products for a price. In one embodimenta user may access the service through Website 106 and may initiate andcomplete a project that will be printed for that user for a static pricefor that particular product.

It is noted herein that a project created on Mixbook™ may be efficientlygathered for print in virtually any print format. Likewise, contentoriginally laid out in one format or aspect ratio may be efficientlyconverted to another layout before printing in an automated process thatincorporates the typical size and layout changes necessary to convertfrom one layout to another automatically. Furthermore, content assembledfor a particular layout and product type may be automatically convertedfor print output in another layout and product type. These and otherunique advantages over current systems will be made apparent in thefollowing examples.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary screen shot of an introduction page 200 ofWebsite 106 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Introduction page 200 includes interactive indicia 201, whichincludes an option for retrieving help, signing up for service, and forlogging into the service. On the same title bar containing theinteractive indicia 201 for signing up or signing into the process,there are the navigation options More; Pricing; and Gallery. The optionmore may lead to further capabilities or information not available onthe instant page. The pricing option brings up one or more completepricing structures for the available products that can be created andprinted. The option Gallery is an option that provides access tocompleted projects authorized for public viewing.

Page 200 contains more than one feature advertisement 202. Each featureadvertisement may comment or provide some input, access to, orinformation about a feature of the service or fact about the providingcompany. In the first feature advertisement (center top) there is aninteractive option 204 for getting started now. Invocation of thisinteractive link may launch a registration or sign-up process followedby an opportunity to begin a Mixbook™ project. Hyperlinked informationis provided on introduction page 200 under categories such as LearnMore, Our Services, Idea Center, Programs, and Corporate.

In one embodiment, page 200 includes an option “try it now”, which maybe replace option 204. Invoking such an option may take the “guest” to aMixbook Editor™ without requiring them to login or have an account withthe site. Transparent to the user, the system creates a temporaryaccount for them. If the new guest user attempts to save any work on thesite they are asked to register as a user.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screen shot of a login/sign-up page 300 presentedto a user as a result of interaction with the introduction page.Login/sign-up page 300 includes a log-in interface 301 for entering anemail address and password for authenticating the user to use the site.A login button 303 is provided for submitting the authentication dataand logging onto the site. If a user has reached page 300 and has notyet signed up for the service of the present invention, the user may bepresented with various benefit statements and a signup now button, whichwhen invoked calls up a registration interface.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary screen shot of a welcome page 400 presented to auser as a result of successful login to the site. Page 400 is a welcomehome page personalized for the user. Page 400 includes navigationoptions 402 including the locations Home, Create, Pricing, and Gallery.The link Pricing takes a user to a pricing page detailing differentprices for ordered products. The Link Gallery take a user to a galleryof public Mixbook™ products created by community members who have givenpermission to view their created products.

Page 400 includes a personal welcome and may also include information405 including status indication of an email account provided to the useras part of the service. Information 405 also includes accountinformation, a Help option, an option for logging out, and a link to ashopping cart for purchasing Mixbook™ products. A user may purchaseproducts created by that user or products created by others that theuser is authorized to purchase. Page 400 includes a sidebar area 403that includes several navigation links such as My Home, My Books, MyFriends, My Photos (uploaded) and My Inbox (provided mail account).

Page 400 includes a workspace window 404 that contains an interface 406for uploading a picture for creating a profile. Interface 406 includes adata entry field to enter the path of a picture or the user may browsethe commuting appliance for a profile picture. An upload button isprovided to effect upload of a profile picture. A place holder 409 isprovided to display the uploaded picture. After creating a profile anduploading a profile picture, the profile picture appears as a profilelink 408. Page 400 has a site search button 411 adapted to enable thatuser to search the Website using a keyword or phrase.

Page 400 includes a status report or listing 407 that tells the userwhat projects are active or available to the user. This may includeprojects created by the user and any projects initiated by others thatthe user has authorized access to. In this example, the user has yet tocreate a Mixbook™ product. Listing 407 includes an interactive commandoption (Create One) for creating a product such as a photo-book forexample.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary screen shot of a project configuration page 500presented to the user as a result of interaction with the Create optionof the page of FIG. 4. Page 500 includes a workspace window 501 forentering information about a project that a user wants to initiate.Information fields 504 include a project title field, a projectdescription field, a field for entering tags for the project, which maybe used later by friends of the user or by other community members tosearch for the project. Fields 504 also include a category field forselecting a category of a project.

A configuration option 502 is provided for electing who may view theproposed project. In this example the project will be viewable byfriends of the user. An invitation window 503 is provided for enablingthe user to invite or add contributors to the project. A contributor isany of the user's friends or any other community member that the userinvites to contribute. In one embodiment a project may be initiated by auser and may be designated open to all contributors or all of the site'scommunity members. Online community members represent an active networkestablished to aid book creation.

The inventors emphasize the idea of a community that develops aroundcreating projects such as photo book. More importantly the systemstreamlines the act of starting projects by creating a socialinteraction network on the site to help propagate book creation. Forexample, by linking with friends and family on the site, the user canutilize the platform for inviting other site users to collaborate on aproject such as a photo book with them, rather than having to entertheir email addresses. Members of this network are community memberstermed “Friends” from the perspective of an inviting user.

When the user begins a project such as a photo book and enters bookinformation, the user is enabled to select members from his network(friends) already registered with the site to help work on it. Thisallows the user to quickly select the appropriate members to contributematerial to the book without having to enter their email addresses.

The system of the present invention enables real-time collaboration.Users may interact with one another in real time as they collaborate ona project. A user may be a contributor without necessarily collaboratingin real time with the creator or other users on a project. Thetransparency of collaboration is such that users may communicate witheach other while working on a particular book and may also viewreal-time editing and creation of that book while it is happening.

As multiple contributors work on a multi-page project such as aphoto-book for example, they are able to view the edits made by otherusers in real time such as adding, changing, and removing pictures andtext. For example, a user that is viewing a page that a contributor isworking on will see a picture move or some other changes happening onthe page in real time.

The system supports presence reporting so any user can see real-timestatus of all the other current contributors or editors of the projectand may invite any of them to collaborate on the page(s) the user isworking on. When two users are on a same page, they can annotate andchange the page in real time, and see each other's mouse cursors in realtime as they move across the screen. When a user selects friends and/orfamily to contribute to a project such as a photo book at the timeproject initiation or by selecting the collaborate feature after thebook as been started, those selected friends or family will be sentautomated invitations to contribute to the selected book. Once a friendor family member accepts such an invitation they will automatically beapproved as become a contributor of the book.

Members of the network who are contributors to a project will be able toadd various materials to the project including but not limited tophotos, videos, text, and pages that have already been created on thesite. When a new project is created the creator and/or contributors ofthe new project such as a photo book may take pages from other existingphoto books on the site and may use them in the new book. In this way,many different projects may use the same project pages. When membersbecome contributors to a book they have the option of adding any pagesthat they have previously created on the site in addition to pages oftheir friends that they have permission to use and any publiclyavailable pages on the site. Adding pages from other projects can bedone two different ways.

In one embodiment a same page added to a project that exists in one ormore other projects may be referenced so that any changes made to thatpage affect every project that has this page present. In anotherembodiment a same page found in another project and contributed to thenew project is copied so that any changes made to the copy will notpropagate to the original page. Members of the site may search publicprojects and pages and may use any public pages they find on the site. Apublic page is a page created by a member of the site that is allowed tobe used by any member in any book. Users will have the option to usethese pages in any book that they create or contribute to. In oneembodiment part of a project may be public while other parts of theproject are held private. A public page may be embedded in a projectthat has pages private pages not made public.

A server such as RS 109 of FIG. 1 facilitates transfer of informationbetween users collaborating in real time on a project. For example, iffive collaborators are in the process of editing a book, the server canuse open socket connections to read when each user is making a changeand then push the change data in an unobtrusive way to the othercollaborators. The Mixbook™ editor (MBE) enables live messaging betweenusers or friends that are currently collaborating on a project wherebyall of the users are using the MBE. In this way users may exchangeideas, tips and other information as they edit a project together.

Invitation window 503 may be expanded to enable a user to view any ofthe user's friends that are registered with the service as “friends” ofthat user. In one embodiment those friends are flagged as being “Online”or “Offline” using a suitable presence protocol. In both instances, auser may invite any of the “online” or “offline” friends to contributeor collaborate in real time on a project. One invitation may be sent tomultiple users. When a user receives an invitation to collaborate on aproject, the invitation may appear as a pop-up window, or some othervisual that identifies the sender and the nature of the project. Aninvitation may also contain a text body describing the project and whattype of collaboration is desired. A create Mixbook™ button is providedto continue the process of book creation. Invoking button 505 calls up anext screen adapted to enable the creator to select the size (formfactor) of the project.

In one embodiment users may form groups around areas of interest. Inthis embodiment a user that belongs to a group created around a subjectof interest may start a new project such as a photo book relating to thesubject around which the group was founded by clicking on a “start newbook” button on a main page established on the site by the group. Thegroup project initiation automatically included the group members ascollaborators. This represents yet an additional way the communitynetwork is leveraged as way to propagate more project creation.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary screenshot of size-selection page 600 forselecting an initial orientation and size for a project. In thisexample, all of the project options are for multiple page photo books.Other project options may be made available to a user without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention such as a photo card,a poster board, or some other type of publication that utilizes photosand/or and text.

A banner feature advertisement 601 states the intent of page 600 ofhelping the user to select a size for a Mixbook™. The featureadvertisement may include text information (not illustrated) thatinforms the user that the service is free for creating and publishing aproject and that printed materials begin at a specific price range. Auser may also click on “Pricing” at the top of the page to determinewhat the current prices are for printed projects.

Page 600 includes an option 602 for selecting a square photo book thatcan be printed in two available sizes. Although not illustrated, theexact sizes which are exemplary only are twelve inches square and eightand one-half inches square for a square photo book. Other sizes may beoffered for a square book without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention. Option 602 includes information that the book maybe ordered in soft or hard cover. Option 602 includes recommendationsthat are not specified in this example but may include what the systemrecommends selection of a square book is best for such as, best for astorybook (baby), a digital scrapbook, or a photo book that is sharedonline.

Page 600 includes an option 603 for selecting a mini-photo book that isa landscape orientation and that is only available in one printed size.Although not illustrated here the exact size of the mini photo book issix inches by four inches. Option 603 includes information that the bookmay be ordered in soft cover only. Option 603 includes recommendationsthat are not specified in this example but may include what the systemrecommends selection of a mini book is best for such as, family bragbook, portable photo album, or gifts. An additional piece of informationis represented by an information cloud adjacent to the mini-book sample.In one embodiment this additional piece of information may be pricinginformation. The information contained in the information cloud may alsobe some other type of useful information without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

Page 600 includes an option 604 for selecting a landscape photo bookthat can be printed in three available sizes. Although not illustratedhere the exact sizes which are exemplary only are fourteen inches byeleven inches, eleven inches by eight and one-half inches, and eightinches by six inches. Option 604 includes information that the book isavailable in hard cover or in soft cover. Option 604 includesrecommendation by the system that selecting a landscape book is best forwedding photo books, guest photo books, or a photography photo book. Anadditional piece of information is provided in an information cloudassociated with the medium sized landscape sample illustrated in option604. In one embodiment the information in the cloud designates thesample as the most popular size of landscape book. Other types ofinformation may be tagged to the samples using an information cloudwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Page 600 includes an option 605 for selecting a portrait photo book thatcan be printed in one size of eight and one-half inches by eleveninches. Option 605 includes recommendation by the system that selectinga portrait size is best for creating a class yearbook, a team or groupyearbook, or a child's storybook. It should be noted herein that theoffered sizes in the different orientations are not intended to belimiting in any way. A number of other sizes might be envisioned forprint for any orientation without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary screen shot of a theme-selection page 700 forselecting an initial theme for a project. Theme-selection page 700includes a scroll menu 701 that contains a number of themes that a usermay select from for use in a project. In typical order, theme selectionmay take place immediately after size and orientation selection whenconfiguring project parameters. Illustrated in the visible portion ofthe window are themes for “Season” including Summer, Autumn, Winter,Spring, Saint Patrick's Day, and Easter. Themes listed under “General”include Classic. Other theme categories might include Wedding, Travel,Baby, Family, Occasion, Holiday, Romance, and Education among many otherpossibilities. In one embodiment a user may create a new theme.

In this example the theme Spring under the category Seasons is selected.Page 700 includes a preview pane 702 adapted to show the theme layoutsuggested for the size and orientation of the project being created. Alayout in the preview pane 702 includes a page 703 on the left and apage 704 on the right. On page 703 there are two photos 707 and one textbox 705. On page 704 there are two photos 708 and a text Box 706. All ofthe photos are those that come with the sample that the user hasselected from menu 701 (sample photos).

A user may select preview theme by invoking option 710 to view a themein the form of the intended product. The user may then select anothertheme from theme pool 701 for preview until the user selects a themethey want. A user may choose a theme by invoking a choose theme buttonon the Website. When the user invokes this option the theme will beincorporated into the project template. A user may invoke option 710,which is an option not to select a theme. A user may also invoke anoption 712, which requests that the system load a project of theselected size orientation and theme with suggested stickers,backgrounds, and photos (if applicable). Invoking the choose themeoption 709 moves the project to the editing stage.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary screen shot of a Mixbook™ Editor (MBE) userinterface (UI) 800 for editing a project in progress according to anembodiment of the present invention. UI 800 includes some of the optionspresented on previous pages including a personalized welcome, an inboxmail indicator, an account option, a help option, a logout option, and alink to a shopping cart. Also present from previous pages are thenavigation links to Home, Create, Pricing, Gallery, and Site Search.

An information bar 802 contains an array of selectable options invitecontributors, change theme, automix, full screen, help, and save. It isnoted herein that the system of the present invention initiates andcompletes auto saves to a user's Mixbook™ project at opportune momentssuch as when the user changes pages within the project when editing. Inthis way the most data a user may lose is data on one project page.

By triggering a save event on specific actions the system mitigates auser's loss of data in the event of software crashes and othercatastrophic events. This system works by persisting the canvas (page)data to the runtime server from the client via a client/servercommunication channel such as an ActionScript Message Format (AMF)remote framework, which transfers AMF data between the client and theserver. This pull system mitigates the amount of work a user couldpotentially lose on a project to just one canvas page worth of data. Italso drastically simplifies the process of creation by removing arecurring step.

In one embodiment, the auto-save feature activates whenever a page isswapped out in the viewing window or “viewport” of the GUI editor.Various other auto-save triggers may be configured and triggeredaccording to established rules. In one example, the auto-save featuretriggers when a specific amount of time elapses while they are workingwithin the editor. In one embodiment the auto-save feature triggers whena pushed event is received by the client that informs the client thatthe site is going down or for any reason. In one embodiment theauto-save feature triggers when a specific copious amount of changes aremade on a single page without save, a threshold established to definethe amount or weight of the changes made.

The automix option in information bar 802 is an automated process drivenby an algorithm. Automix takes the user's photos and dynamically createsnew pages based on the project's theme and the size, orientation, andmetadata of the user's photos. UI 800 has a side bar area 803 thatcontains assets that may be used in creating the project.

Sidebar 803 is scrollable and includes at least four interactivepresentation controls, each representing a category of assets, whichwhen invoked provide access to certain assets under each categoryrepresented. The control furthest to the left of the FIG. labeled P forphotos. Invoking Photos loads all of the user's uploaded photos into thescrollable area for use in the project. The next control to the rightlabeled L is for layouts.

A layout is a page or spread configuration containing photo slots andtext boxes along with shapes and stickers that go with the theme of theproject. Under layouts, there are sub-categories for project layouts,theme layouts, and recommended layouts. A layout may be a systemprovided layout or one that is created by a user from scratch elements.A next control over to the right is labeled B for backgrounds.

A background is a page background that underlies the added content. Whena background image is stored by the system, the system, in oneembodiment, creates a mirror image of that background by default. Thisunique process is termed background “flipping” by the inventor. Bydefault, all background images are stored as “mirrored images” (originaland flipped version). In this way when a user selects a particularbackground image for two adjacent pages, the flipped image is used asthe second background image and may be auto-inserted onto the page. Forassets that display one or more asymmetric aspects, background flippingprovides a more aesthetic look to a two-page photo book spread. Flippingof assets (storage of mirrored images) may be practiced by default onbackgrounds, layouts, photos, and stickers without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, an algorithm drives the background flipping processby first identifying a background image that is asymmetrical incharacteristic such as having an asymmetric coloring, texture, pattern,etc. Any images that qualify are flipped meaning that a mirrored-imagecopy of the original is created and stored alongside the original. Inaddition, the system automatically serves a “flipped” image where usefulsuch as when a two-page photo book spread will use the same backgroundimage. The left canvas would contain the original background image whilethe right canvas would contain the mirrored image auto-inserted when thebackground was selected by the user for application to the spread.

The next control furthest to the right is labeled S for stickers. Thesystem maintains clip-art called stickers comprising shapes and otherclipart images used as content to dress a layout on a page. The categoryof stickers includes shapes, project stickers and theme stickers.Project stickers are those that are currently being used in a givenproject and theme stickers are those that are considered relevant to aproject theme. Sidebar area 803 serves as a content interface within UI800 that provides access to all content whether it is system-provided oruser-provided.

In one embodiment the system of the invention includes a recommendationengine driven by several different algorithms that intelligentlyrecommends content according to several different criteria. For example,certain theme-related stickers might be recommended to a user based onthe theme selected for a project. If the project theme is babies, thenbaby related stickers known to the system would be displayed to the userahead of any other sticker types. In another embodiment a hierarchalrecommendation system is provided whereby the system makes suggestionsor recommendations of content based on number of times the content isused by others, commented on by others, ranked by others, and so on.Using a recommendation system helps expedite the project creationprocess by displaying the most relevant or used content assets to theuser first so that the user does not have to search or browse forrelevant content assets to include in a project.

In one embodiment a method for selecting a photo from a plurality ofphotos placed in the project by a project contributor for recommendationincludes (a) accessing the contributor's project photos stored in thedatabase, (b) weighting data associated with each photo used in theproject against one or more business rules, (c) selecting one or morephotos based on the weighting results of step (b); and (d) recommendingone or more photo products containing one or more photos selected atstep (c) to the contributor at an appropriate time.

In a preferred embodiment, stickers such as shapes may be adapted asphoto-viewing windows or “photo-slots” complete with all of the uniqueproperties of a photo-slot such as access to the photo panning tool,photo-edit tool, and other tools for editing. Shapes may also be used astext boxes. There are many possibilities.

UI 800 includes a content storyboard 807 that displays all of the pagesand, or “spreads” 806 of a project in sequence at the current editedstates of those pages or spreads. A spread is simply two or more singlepages connected as a spread of pages. Storyboard 807 is scrollable andmay contain as many pages as are included in any project. A user mayclick on any of the pages or spreads in storyboard 807 to bring it upfor active display and editing. A user may select a viewing mode 808(bottom right) for viewing a single page or for viewing a page spread. Apage tools interface 809 is provided in UI 800 to enable simple pagemanipulations such as adding a blank page, duplicating an existing page,and removing an existing page from the storyboard.

In this example the front cover 801 and the spine 805 of a photo bookare displayed for edit in UI 800. The front and back cover areconsidered pages but are not numbered in this example. Spine 805 is alsoconsidered a page. Interface 800 includes a welcome message 804 that mayappear on display when the user invokes the editing process. The welcomemessage includes a warm welcome to the user followed by some generalinformation about the service and expectations. The pop-up may prompt auser to add photos to the relative project, customize the project andwhen satisfied with the project, order one or more printed copies of theproject. In one embodiment a themed page already containing stickers andphoto-slots can be added.

In one embodiment a user may remix a project that is in progress orfinished. A page may be remixed by interacting with a remix optionprovided in toll bar 802. Remixing can be undertaken to change thevarious aspects of a page including but not limited to changes in layoutof the page, changes to the background of the page, changes to the fontsof the page, and changes to the styles of items on the page. Remixing apage may also include adding or removing page items like stickers,photos, text boxes, and shapes. Remixing a page may also includechanging effects or the current cropping of items on the page.

In one aspect all of a user's remixing efforts are undoable by clickingon an editing undo button or dialog box. A user may remix any number ofpages any number of times. During the remix operation, a user may beenabled to include photo effects such as B&W, sepia, antique, and so onto all page photos. The user may also be enabled to include meanbrightness and contrast adjustments on all of the photos in the remixand application of font on the page may be included to match as well. Alayout change may source from a pool of layouts stored by the system. Alayout change may also originate from an automated layout algorithm thatautomatically lays out all of the items on a page.

The automated layout algorithm described above may select a speciallayout and then may convert a group of photos into a canvas page. Aspecific layout may be chosen based on the corresponding photo groupdata by the algorithm which further minimizes the amount of zooming orscaling that must be afforded the photos. By minimizing the amount ofscaling required, the resulting canvas page fits the photos into photoslots of similar orientation and subsequently requires very littlezooming of the photos. This lends to higher quality output once a userchooses to purchase a created project in a high-dot per inch (DPI)output.

In one embodiment a flash tool for creating books is embedded in theediting system of the present invention. The flash window expandsautomatically to fill up the user's browser space when the userincreases the size of the window. The flash window contracts to fit aswell if the user decreases the size of the browser space. UsingJavaScript on Resize events, the page creation canvas is adjusted insize to either zoom in to or out of the created book page as the userresizes their browser.

In one embodiment the system may access data quickly for display whileuploading a bandwidth intensive file like a high resolution photo.Bandwidth is a precious resource on the Internet. Photos typically use alot of bandwidth during transfer from one network location to another.While a user uploads photos, the system has the capability of accessingenough of the data using Flash Player™ (FP) 10 to create stand-inthumbnails of the uploading photos so that a user does not have to waitbefore resuming the editing process. Once the photos are uploaded, theyautomatically replace the thumbnails and take on all of the attributesapplied to the thumbnails in the absence of the real photos. In this wayuser will be enabled to work on a group of uploaded photos immediatelyusing the thumbnails as a stand-in.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary screen shot of an add-photo page for acquiringphotos to add to a Mixbook™ project according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. Page 900 appears as a result of the user clicking on“add photos” within the Mixbook™ editor UI. Page 900 functions much likean interface for downloading songs from a music site with the exceptionthat the user is uploading and/or physically referencing photos storedat a remote location accessible to the service provider. An option bar902 is provided within page 900 and includes many separate links topopular network service locations where photos may be acquired for aproject.

At the far left of the options bar, the option upload is invoked. Inthis case the user is uploading photos from a local hard drive or fromsome other digital medium accessible to the operating appliance hostingthe activity. Photos may be uploaded from any internal memory or fromany external memory such as a connected thumb drive, a connected compactdisk, a connected camera, or through some other removable memory thatcan be coupled to the user's computing appliance. In one embodiment thesystem may “capture” photos from media such as a video clip that isplayed back on the user's computing appliance. In one embodiment thesystem may also upload any photos that are scanned into the user'scomputing appliance using any type of image scanning device.

Page 900 includes a status window 901 that is divided into columns androws. From left to right, the columns in status window 901 are labeledFile Name, Status, Progress Bar, and File Size. An unlabeled column atfar right contains either an X or a check mark indicating that theassociated photo is not yet uploaded (X), or that the photo is alreadyuploaded (check mark). There are ten rows illustrated in this exampleindicating that ten photos are to be uploaded. A user may upload onephoto art a time or the user may upload a group of photos by using groupselection techniques such as control click or using a shift and holdoption.

It can be seen in this example that three of the ten photos beinguploaded are completely uploaded into the system as indicated in thestatus column (100%) and by an overall progress bar 903 at the bottom ofthe window. One photo (DSC01273.JPG) is 63% complete while another(DSC01267) is being processed just after upload to determine optimaldisplay size and perhaps other factors for the UI. In one embodimentphoto-add page 900 is a window that appears within the UI of theMixbook™ editor. In this embodiment as the photo status for a particularphoto indicates that upload and processing are complete for the photothen it will display within the side bar area of the UI under thecategory Photos.

Add-photo page 900 includes links for acquiring photos from a pluralityof photo hosting locations on the Internet. The location My Photos isthe collection of all of the photos that the user has already uploadedto the service. The user may click My Photos to view those photos andselect one or more of those photos for transfer to the current project.A user may acquire photos from virtually any Internet-connectedrepository that the user has authorized access to directly or through ahosting service account. Examples of such accounts where photos may belocated include Facebook™, Flickr™, Yahoo™, SmugMug™, Photobucket™, andPicasa™. There may be fewer or more photo-location options (Hosts)referenced within page 900 than are illustrated in this example withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

If a user has a Facebook™ account that user may acquire any photo thatuser has authorized access to including those photos of family andfriends on Facebook™. The same is true for all of the otherphoto-locations listed in bar 902. A user may, if desired, physicallydownload photos from these third-party-controlled photo-hostingservices. However, the inventors provide a unique data structure forphoto data transfer that permits use of the photo in online and inprinted projects but does not include a requirement for literallypossessing the photo. The data structure represents a photo and enablespartners to transfer photos without performing a physical upload.

The generic data structure includes an array of photo sizes. Each imagesize has at least three fields. These are a value for the photo width inpixels, a value for the photo height in pixels, and the network location(URL/URI) of the image or photo. The address is the address where thephoto is stored. In a preferred embodiment each of the selectable photosizes for a single photo has the same aspect ratio. The term aspectratio refers to the ratio of width to height of a photo. If a partnersite has three sizes for a photo like small, medium, and large, thesesizes must have the same aspect ratio for selectable representation ofthe image without requiring physical upload of the photo.

An algorithm enables the system to determine the best photo-display sizefrom the available partner-configured photo sizes for use in Mixbook™projects. The algorithm loops through the available photo sizes in thegeneric image data structure describing the remote photo. The systemleverages an algorithm for photo display of the remote photo thatautomatically selects the optimal photo size to display out of the arrayof partner-configured sizes provided the photo display on the partnersite. For example, if the service of the invention has three availablephoto sizes (small, medium, and large), and the platform partner, suchas Facebook™ for example, has only two image sizes available (medium andlarge), the algorithm considers the two available sizes in the bestlight. The result may be that the small photo size allowed by theservice would be replaced with the medium photo size allowed for thephoto at the partner site.

The algorithm automatically fits the image into the photo slot. To dothis the algorithm determines the limiting dimension either the width orthe height. To find the limiting dimension, the algorithm takes thefirst element in the size array and creates two ratios. The first ratiocreated is a width ratio which is equal to the width of the firstelement in the size array divided by the width of the display slot. Thesecond ratio created is the height ratio which is equal to the height ofthe first element in the size array divided by the height of the photoslot. If the width ratio is greater than the height ratio, then thelimiting dimension is the height. If the height ratio is greater thanthe width ratio the limiting dimension is the width.

The algorithm orders the sizes by the limiting dimension, which isascending order. Beginning with the first and second sizes, thealgorithm compares the sizes on their limiting dimension with the sizeof the photo slot on its limiting dimension. If the size of the displayslot is bigger than the second size, then the algorithm continues on tothe next size grouping, the second and third sizes. The algorithmcontinues until one of two sizes is greater than the size of the displayslot. At this point, the algorithm will intelligently choose which sizeto display.

The photo is displayed in the same manner as other photos that werephysically uploaded to the service with an exception that the photo isaccessible only when the link from the service to the photo is active. Auser could potentially build and print a photo book that contains onlyremote photos that are never uploaded physically to the service. In oneembodiment option bar 902 is scrollable in the case that more partnersare listed than can be displayed at one time in the window.

The system of the invention includes a partner platform and applicationprogramming interface (API) that enables partners to integrate theirapplications (desktop or web-based applications) with the service of thepresent invention. This platform allows partners to implement codewithin their applications that can transfer data to and from Mixbook™servers including, but not limited to user data, photos, and projectdata (books, calendars, posters, prints, mugs, mouse pads, and otherphoto gift or collage items). In one aspect of the present invention thesystem includes an application program interface API for enablingpartners to access user accounts and make contributions to those useraccounts. Usage of partner aliases helps to distinguish such partnersfrom other users when they are on the site. The system creates an“alias” for each object that a partner application needs to accesswithin the collage editing platform. The created alias will be storedwithin the system to enable quick and easy access to objects stored inthe system. Aliases can be defined by the partner, so that the partnercan use existing data in their own system to reference data in theMixbook™ partner platform. The system will automatically detectattempted duplication of a partner alias. If a partner attempts tocreate a duplicate partner alias, the alias will not be created. Rather,the existing alias may be updated with any change in information passedin the associated action.

In order to create an alias for a given object, a partner must haveaccess through that user by having authenticated access to that useraccount. If a partner does not have an alias connected to a givenobject, there is no way for it to access that object. This makes it easyfor a given partner to create and manage “private” and “secure” datathrough the partner platform without worrying about having othersaccessing that same data.

Partners may create user accounts on Mixbook by passing an alias withwhich they will be able to access the user in the future. If the emailaddress is already registered on Mixbook, the partner must authenticatethe user by sending that user to a Mixbook log-in interface and to theiraccount. Once the user logs in, the alias relationship will be createdwith that user for the requesting partner.

FIG. 10 is an elevation view of a photo spread 1000 of a photo-bookproject exhibiting a dynamically editable text box according to anembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is an elevation view ofphoto spread 1000 of FIG. 10 with the text box moved to a position ofconflict relative to a print parameter applied to a printing process forthe photo-book.

Referring now to FIG. 10, photo spread 1000 is exemplary of any photospread or project page that may be used in a project. In this examplephoto spread 1000 is part of a photo-book project. Photo spread 1000includes two pages whereby the page on the right of the spreads includesa text box 1001. Text box 1001 is an asset provided by the system forusers to insert text information relative to project theme and photos.In this example, a user has clicked on the text box 1001 to dynamicallyedit the text within.

A sizing frame 1011 is visible about text box 1001 in this example. Whena user clicks on text box 1001 anywhere on or within the boxed area atext box re-sizing frame 1011 dynamically appears. A text editing toolbar 1003 and a text box rotation tool 1002 also appear insynchronization with the text box re-sizing frame. Frame 1011 enables auser to resize textbox 1001 by grabbing any one of the corner handles orside handles and dragging the handle to change the box footprint. Textbox 1001 can be stretched taller or stretched wider by grabbing anddragging a top/bottom resize handle or a left side/right side resizehandle on frame 1011. Text box 1001 may be made larger or smaller whileretaining the same aspect ratio using any of the corner-located resizehandles on frame 1011. In one embodiment resizing the text box aftertext is inserted into the box results in stretching of the text. Inanother embodiment resizing the text box with inserted text does notchange the font size.

Text box rotation tool 1002 appears dynamically when the user clicks onbox 1001 or anywhere within the box. Rotation tool 1002 may be grabbedand manipulated by the user to rotate text box 1001 about its center tothe left or to the right at any angle desired. In one embodiment anadditional window may be visible that provides the amount of rotation indegrees in real time as the box is rotated by the user. Text editingtoolbar 1003 includes a font style selection menu 1004. Menu 1004contains a field that can be used to type in a known font style or adrop-down feature in the menu may be leveraged to select from a list ofincluded styles available to the editor.

In live editing, an auto-preview feature is provided whereby a user maymouse over a font style exposed from the drop down menu and see the fontchange in text window 1001. When the user slides the mouse pointer offof the selection, the font reverts back to the original font. The usermay type over or type a font within the font window of menu 1004 and seethe font change within text window 1001 once the system recognizes thefont selection. Auto-preview is also provided for other types of editsincluding but not limiting to font size, font color, font presentation(italics, caps, bold, etc), and font justification (left, right,center). A user generally selects or highlights a text item within aproject. This action may cause automatic display of a text editingtoolbar, the toolbar including controls for at least editing font style,font size, font justification, and font color; and selecting one of thecontrols of step (b) and mousing over a menu option. For auto-previewinggraphics the user selects or highlights a graphic within the project. Asa result of this action, the system automatically displays a graphicsediting toolbar, the toolbar including a styles interface havingcontrols for applying at least, shadow effect, reflective effect, borderstyle, blur effect, transparency effect, shapes effect, colorsaturation, hue, brightness, and contrast. The user selects one of thepresented controls and mouses over a menu option to preview the option.

Toolbar 1003 includes a font sizing menu 1005 that is adapted to enablea user to efficiently select an optimum size for the font in text window1001. Like the font style menu, the font sizing menu contains a fieldand a drop down list feature. A user may click the downward arrowcausing a font list to be presented to the user. This list contains allof the allowable font sizes. A user may mouse over a font size in thelist and see the size change take place in real time within window 1001(auto-preview). When a user selects the font resizing tool 1005, aseparate slider bar 1006 appears adjacent to the menu.

A user may grab the slider handle of the bar 1006 and move it up or down(vertical slider) or left and right (horizontal slider) to make the fontin window 1001 larger or smaller according to the allowed font sizeincrements that can otherwise be selected or ordered in menu 1005.Auto-preview enables a user operating slider bar 1006 to see the fontchanging in real time within window 1001 as the user moves the sliderhandle. In one embodiment of the present invention, a user may operate aset of directional arrows to change the font size. For example, clickingon the up arrow may increase font size by allowed increments whileclicking on the down arrow may reduce the font size by allowableincrement. Altogether there are four ways of manipulating the size ofthe font in text box 1001. These four methods include moving a slider,clicking sizing arrows, entering a number into a field, and selecting afont size from a drop-down menu. Auto-preview is supported by all of thetext resizing methods and interfaces.

Toolbar 1003 includes a text Bold, Italicize, and Underline tool and aparagraph/justification formatting tool for adjusting the way theparagraph is presented. Anytime the text parameter controls such asBold, Underline, and Italicize are moused over, the user can see theeffect on the text in text box 1001 in real time using the auto-previewfeature. Toolbar 1003 includes a font color management interface 1008that includes three different ways to manage the color of the fontwithin text box 1001.

Interface 1008 includes a rectangular color grid control that calls up athumbnail selection interface containing all of the allowable themecolors in the form of selectable thumbnails when invoked. Interface 1008includes an annular color palette control that calls up a system colorpalette that enables a user to pick a color from a field of blendedcolors or from a color bar of blended colors. Interface 1008 includes acolor picker tool that when selected and or invoked provides a pixelcolor reader to the user's input device in the form of a color dropperthat can be placed over any color manifested on the user display monitorto read a color.

The color of the text in text box 1001 may be changed to any colorvisible in the user interface that is read from a pixel by the colorinput tool. A user may operate the color selection tool to performoperations such as save a color, apply a color to all of a specific typeof item, and so on. Moreover, an extension may be provided to the colorpicking tool to enable a user to blend or mix colors, or to selectmultiple colors in order of priority and save the colors to a personalcolor swatch or palette.

The method can be practiced by selecting or invoking a color readingtool; moving the tool over the display monitor to read and previewcolors using mouse movement; and selecting a color read by the tool. Theselected color may be applied to a single item or to multiple items. Inone embodiment the color picking tool is used to select colors to saveto a color palette or to a color mixing tool. In one embodiment arecommendation system is in use during color picking and can makerecommendations to the user as to the popularity of any color read bythe tool at the time of reading.

Such a category may be segmented according to various criteria such asby collaboration group, by friends of the user, by all site users, andso on. Other interesting statistical data may also be provided to theuser relative to a selected or read color in the form of a pop-up orother visible message. For example the color picker may read a specificcolor and in preview mode a message appears that ranks the color andmentions one or more other colors that go well with the read or selectedcolor. There are many possibilities.

Each of these font color application tools of interface 1008 issupported by auto-preview so that the user may see the text colorchanging before saving the text in a particular color. More detail aboutapplication of colors to font is described further below.

Toolbar 1003 includes a layering tool 1009 containing two controls. Onecontrol brings an item forward to overlay another item and the othercontrol operates to send an item back one layer behind another item inthe window. A unique aspect of interface 1009 is that the system“remembers” what layers items reside on and assumes that all items onthe canvas that do not overlap are on the same layer. The tool will skipintermediate layers if an item is selected to “move forward” to overlapor “move backward” to hide behind another item that is more than onelayer away from the item moved. In this way the user always sees thevisual effect of moving an item forward or sending an item backwardrelative to the other items. The layering system is driven by algorithmand also detects which items are being intersected with and replacesdepth level values attached to those items. In one embodiment, items orassets may be grouped on a page and may be incrementally brought forwardor sent backward as a group of items. Toolbar 1003 includes a deletecontrol 1010 for removing any items on the page or canvas.

Referring now to FIG. 11, text box 1001 has been inadvertently movedtoward the gutter area of the spread by grabbing onto frame 1011 anddragging it toward the center of the spread. The system of the inventionincludes a user alert system for warning a user anytime a text box ismoved to a position where some of the text might be cut off because itintersects or overlaps a print boundary such as print boundary 1100 madevisible to the user as part of the alert process. A visual dialog box1101 appears while the user is in process of moving text box 1001 inreal time. The dialog box contains a warning to the user that themovement of the text box into the print boundary may result in a cut offof text during printing.

The print boundaries are based on the output dimensions for the printedoutput boundaries. The boundaries and text dialog alert box appear onlywhen the user has moved text too close to a boundary edge. A bufferboundary area might be observed in some embodiments to cover outputs inslightly different aspect ratios. That is to say that the warning wouldoccur if a user brought the text box across the buffer boundary eventhough text did not cross the actual print boundary of a particularoutput format. Much work is reduced by providing this early warningsystem way back in the editing process and well before the printingprocess.

FIG. 12 is an elevation view of a photo spread 1200 of a projectillustrating real-time text color application using theme colors. FIG.13 is an elevation view of photo spread 1200 of the same projectillustrating real-time font color change using system colors.

Referring now to FIG. 12, as described further above, font colormanagement may be accomplished using a font color management interface1008. In this example a user has selected the theme colors control ofinterface 1008 as evidenced by the illustrated mouse pointer during aprocess of changing font color of the font in text box 1001. A themecolor grid 1201 immediately appears upon selection of the control. Themecolor grid 1201 contains all of the theme colors 1204 that are genericto the theme the user or the system (in some cases) has selected for theproject. In one embodiment, the theme color grid may include colors thatthe user has previously used in the project or colors that the user hassaved to his or her account on Mixbook. Color pallet 1201 includes acolor swatch containing the current font color of the text in text box1001. An adjacent box 1203 includes the code name for that particularcolor. Auto-preview allows the user to see the font color change as theuser mouses over any of the theme colors before actually committing toany one color.

Referring now to FIG. 13, as described further above, font colormanagement may be accomplished using a font color management interface1008. In this example a user has selected the system colors control ofinterface 1008 as evidenced by the illustrated mouse pointer during aprocess of changing font color of the font in text box 1001. A systemcolor palette 1301 immediately appears upon selection of the control.System color palette 1301 contains all of the system colors 1302 thatare available to the user by moving a pixel reading icon (circle,square, etc.) over the area of the palette to read the colors.

In addition to color palette 1302, a color strip 1303 presents all ofthe same colors from the top to the bottom of the strip. Color strip1303 has a slider bar that a user may grab and drag over the blendedcolor strip to determine a best color for the font. Like theme colorgrid 1201, interface 1301 includes a color swatch 1304 that contains thecurrent color that is being moused over or selected and an informationbox that contains the code name for that color. An interactive option1306 for cancelling a color selection is provided as is an interactiveoption 1307 for accepting the new color for the font in text box 1001.

FIG. 14 is an elevation view of a photo spread 1400 illustrating aphoto-editing frame and intuitive photo panning interface according toan embodiment of the present invention. Photo spread 1400 contains aphoto slot 1407 on the left page of the photo spread. A photo 1408 hasbeen inserted into photo slot 1407 by a user building the project. Photoslot 1407 automatically hides any part of photo 1408 that extends pastits boundaries. The portion of the photo extending past the boundary isinvisible to the user until the user grabs the photo for the purpose ofpanning the photo to improve the position of the photo within the photoslot.

The above process is illustrated by a mouse grab-hand controlled bycomputer input device (mouse). When the user drops photo 1408 onto photoslot 1407 an algorithm automatically sizes the photo so that its top andbottom edges or its left side and right side edges align exactly withthe corresponding boundaries of the photo slot in accordance towhichever dimension of the photo is a closer fit to the correspondingdimension of the photo slot (width or length). In this example the topand bottom edges of photo 1408 align to the top and bottom edges ofphoto slot 1407. A user may then grab photo 1408 in the center using agrab operation and move or “pan” the photo to the left or to the right.The rest of the photo extending past the slot boundaries (left edge andright edge) is visible at some level of transparency as photo boundary1406. When the user lets go of the photo, the portion of the photo 1406is hidden completely providing a convenient and innovative virtual photocropping capability.

In one embodiment the photo slot is an image display window of apredefined geometric configuration disposed on a project page forcontaining and displaying an image that has been placed thereon. In thisexample the user may grab the photo by interacting with an image handleassociated with the image container, the image handle visible onhighlight or selection of the image within the image container ordisplay window. Again if one or more dimensions of the image exceed thedimensions of the image container or photo slot, a user may grab thecontained image by the image handle and may move the image about withinthe container in any direction to present the best view of the image.Parts of the image that are hidden behind the page canvas become visibleto the user when the image is grabbed enabling the user to see whatparts of the image are cropped by the predefined geometry of the imagecontainer as described further above.

A photo sizing frame, similar to the text box sizing frame describedfurther above includes side grab handles and corner grab handles tofacilitate sizing. A photo-slot rotation tool 1409 is provided above thephoto resize frame for rotating the photo clockwise or counterclockwise. Optimal sizing constraints are applied in the algorithm usedto optimally fit photo 1408 to photo slot 1407 such that photo zoomingor scaling requirements are kept to a minimum to increase the efficiencyof the overall process of building a project.

A photo-editing toolbar 1401 is provided to enable a user to make editsto photo 1408. Toolbar 1401 appears along with the sizing frame 1404when the user selects photo 1408 for editing. Toolbar 1401 contains aphoto zoom interface 1402 for enlarging and reducing the photo size.Zoom interface 1402 is a horizontal slider. The photo placed in thephoto slot is optimally sized so that the bar on zoom slider 1402 is allthe way to the left. A user may grab the bar on slider 1402 and drag itto the right to enlarge or “zoom in” the photo. Enlarging a photo causesthe unseen portion of the photo outside the photo slot to expand beyondthe boundary edges of the photo slot. After enlarging a photo, a usermay re-pan the photo to ensure that the best part of the photo isviewable through the photo viewing window or photo slot.

Photo editing tool 1402 includes a rotation tool 1403 that rotates thephoto counter clockwise by an angle of 90 degrees. Photo editing toolbar1405 contains a spread feature for extending a photo over onto the nextpage of the spread. A user may place the photo in the gutter portion ofthe spread and click onto control 1405 to facilitate a view of the photospanning across the two pages of the spread. Another click on thecontrol cuts off the content of the photo that is bleeding over onto thesecond page. In this case the second page is simply the page that thephoto was initially absent from before proceeding to span the photo.

FIG. 15 is an elevation view of photo spread 1400 of FIG. 14 with astyles editing interface 1501 invoked from photo editing toolbar 1401according to an embodiment of the present invention. A user may invoke astyles editing interface 1501 by clicking on a control 1500 asillustrated via a mouse or other input method. Styles interface 1501 isan extension of tool bar 1401. Interface 1501 is also available on textediting toolbar 1003 described further above in the description of FIG.10. Styles editing interface 1501 includes effect application options1502 for enhancing photos.

Options 1502 visited from left to right include a shadow selectioninterface control that when invoked produces shadow levels 1503 from noshadow to heavy shadow. Next to the right is a control option that wheninvoked calls up a reflection interface to apply a level of reflectionto the photo. A border control is provided to the right of thereflection interface and provided a variety of borders to select fromfor bordering photos and text boxes. Next to the border control is ashape control. The shape control provides a menu of shapes (stars,hearts, etc) that can be used as innovative photo crops by dropping theminto a photo-slot. The final styles option is a transparency interfacecontrol that brings up a transparency level interface where a user mayselect from different levels of transparence for a photo.

It is noted herein that all of the same style editing controls arepresent in the styles editing interface for text boxes that can beexecuted from toolbar 1003 described further above. Those controlsproduce the same selections for shadow, reflection border, shapes, andtransparency. Further all of these controls include auto-preview optionsso the user may see the effect in the photo or text before saving theeffects. In addition to the effects listed as options 1502 in styleseditor 1501, other photo effects and editing tools might be included asoptions in the interface without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention such as a brightness control, contrast control,color saturation control, hue control, and other standard photo editingoptions.

Automatically previewing edits to graphics items within the image-basedproject involves selecting or highlighting a graphic within the projectto automatically display photo-editing toolbar 1401 inclusive of stylesediting interface 1501, which may include controls for applying atleast, shadow effect, reflective effect, border style, blur effect,transparency effect, shapes effect, color saturation, hue, brightness,and contrast. A user may select any of the controls and mouse over themenu option to preview an effect.

Before applying any effect to a canvas component like a photo or stickera user may preview how the effect may appear on an object in the styleseditor. The items current effects are considered saved effects. When auser desires to change the effect or style of an item they first selectthe item on the canvas, which automatically opens a toolbar with thestyles and effects editing interface. In one embodiment a display of theselected item is provided in preview mode where the display is of theactual item or a representation of the item.

In one embodiment a user may click on an effect for an item and thenmouse over the item in preview mode to see how the effect will appear onthe item. Mousing off of an item returns the appearance of the item backto its saved state. If the user clicks on one of the preview displays inthe case of multiple displays as in the styles editing interface, thestyles or effects represented by that display will be applied to theselected item and those styles or effects will be saved, such that thesaved state now includes those settings.

Interface 1501 includes a customize option that incorporates a sliderbar 1505 that is shared relative to a plurality of editing optionsincluding Blur; Distance; Angle; and Opacity. A user may select any oneof the just-mentioned options and then use slider bar 1505 to scale thelevel of effect of the selected option. Furthermore, each listed optionhas a text value menu where a user may type in a desired value, orselect a listed value from a dropdown menu. At the very bottom of stylesediting interface 1501, a color editing interface similar or identicalto interface 1008 described previously is provided that includes acontrol for bringing up a grid of theme colors, a control for bringingup a color palette and/or a color strip, and a control for picking acolor using a pixel color reader in the form of a ink dropper thatreplaces the mouse pointer when picking a color. Any pixel that isvisible in the user display may be read and its color may be used torecolor any item of the photo book. At the bottom of interface 1501 aninteractive option is provided enables the user to apply a change to allitems on photo spread 1400.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary screen shot of a contributor invitationinterface 1600 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Thesystem of the present invention enables a user to initiate a project asa creator or project host and then to invite other users to help work onthe project or contribute assets to the project. Interface 1600 appearsas a result of the user clicking on “add contributors” when firststarting a new project as described further above with reference to FIG.5.

Interface 1600 includes a text field 1601 for entering the emailaddresses of other users that the hosting user wishes to invite tocontribute to the project. These other users may already be registeredon Mixbook™ or they may not be community members yet. Users who areinvited to contribute to a project but are nor members of the servicemay be directed to a membership page to register as a user before beingallowed to contribute to a member's project. Interface 1600 includes asecond text field for selecting friends from a list of friends that arealready known to the system. If the friends are already known, the listis presented each time the user clicks on the feature. An option forselecting all of the listed friends is provided at the top right cornerof text field 1004. Once the invitees are selected, the user may electto provide a personal message to the group of friends invited. A textfield 1603 enables a user to type in a text message, which will be sentto the users. Such a message may explain the project and the reasons forestablishing or at least inviting contributors. For the purpose of termdefinition as it applies to this specification, a contributor to aproject can be any person that is able to contribute creative assets toan existing project either in collaboration or singularly. A contributormay be a friend or family member already registered to the site. Acontributor may also be a family member or friend that is treated as aninvited guest that has not yet signed up for the service.

Once the contributors are identified either by email address and name orboth, the invitations are automatically sent as email, short messageservice (SMS), Instant Message (IM) or some other invitation message tothose users. Interface 1600 includes a widget 1605 for enabling a userto browse an address book to add users. Once friends are registered withthe site, the user need not enter any email address information toinvite them to be contributors. Contributors may also be collaboratorsthat help the user work on a project in real time. In this case, thecollaborators may already be online as detected by presence reporting ormonitoring. The user simply selects those that are online from the listin text field 1602. An icon may be provided next to the name of a friendto indicate whether that friend is online or offline.

The inventors emphasize that the system of the invention is designed tomake it easy for multiple users to work on and share projects with oneanother in a manner that promotes use of pages from different projectsto contribute to a project in the works. In this way users maycontribute pages from other projects to one they are currentlycollaborating on. An option for making a project open to all communitymembers registered with the site is provided at the start of a project.In some cases projects created by one or a group of community membersmay be copied by another user whereby the new creator edits the originalwork to make it personal to the new user. In this scenario manydifferent projects may contain many of the same photos and othercreative assets that were originally copied.

FIG. 17 is an exemplary screenshot of a proxy-login interface 1700 thatenables a user or contributor to gain access to a personal account tolink to or otherwise acquire access to photos available through thepersonal account. In this example, the login interface is for logginginto a Yahoo™ account where that user may have access to photos storedremotely at the service. Interface 1700 includes the traditional fieldsfor entering a user name or email and password pair. A back button 1702is provided on interface 1700 for navigating back to the previous page.A sign in or login button 1703 is provided for submitting theinformation.

Navigation to the user's personal account takes place through theMixbook™ server by proxy. Once logged in to the account, the systemfinds the photos associated with the account and allows the user toselect and transfer a photo or simply establish an active link to thephoto so that the photo may be used in a project without a physicalupload to the service. This is accomplished by a data structure thatincludes a URL to the photo as described previously. It is noted hereinthat the exact look of the log-in page may vary and may include asign-up option for signing up with the service through Mixbook™.

FIG. 18 is an exemplary screen shot of an add friends interface 1800 foradding friends to the service of the present invention. Interface 1800includes a plurality of email services 1801 that a user may haveaccounts with. The user may select any of these services to locatecontacts of the user that the user may wish to invite to become friendson the Mixbook™ site. As previously described the service of theinvention collects a list of invitees and sends emails, IMs or SMSmessages to invite them to the service on behalf of their friend. Oncethe invitees have registered for the service they are included asfriends of the inviting user and members of the Mixbook™ community as awhole.

Once a user has indicated one or more services to access contacts from,the user may select the next button 1802 to proceed to gather the emailcontacts of each of the selected services. In one embodiment thecontacts are in a list resident on the user's computing appliance. Inthe case of Instant Messaging Access Protocol (IMAP) accounts such asGmail for example, the proxy log-in interface of FIG. 17 might be usedto access the contact list for that service.

FIG. 19 is an exemplary screen shot of a preview interface 1900 forpreviewing a finished project according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Interface 1900 enables a user to preview an online project orother users to view a project they might have access to on the system.In this example the preview interface is in the form of a book that hasmultiple pages with photos and text. In one embodiment a play bookwidget is provided that enables viewing of a photo book in the form ofan interactive slide show or a form correct book preview as isillustrated in the example.

Interface 1900 includes a number of pages in addition to a front cover,back cover and spine (not illustrated). Pages two and three of the photobook are visible and are given the element numbers 1901 (page 2) and1902 (page 3). Referring now to page 1901, a user may configure a slideshow or automated presentation of a Mixbook™ that includes comments suchas comment 1904 made by other users. Comment 1904 includes the user'semail address and time that it was inserted. The system enables users toview their books as an online slideshow that displays all the pages ofthe book along with additional multimedia content that can be added.Users will have the ability to add music or any type of sound track toone or more pages within the book or to the widget to play in thebackground while the book is being viewed as a slide show.

In one embodiment interface 1900 enables automated panning and zoomingof the pages of the previewed book. A small information box 1903 showsthe user that created page 1901 with a very simple statement and emailaddress. If more than one user contributed to a single page, then twoinformation balloons might be presented; each citing one of thecreators. It is noted herein that a user may turn off automatic displayof user information related to contributors. Interface 1900 enablesusers who have viewed the project to leave comments embedded on pages ofthe book. In this example a comment is present on page 1901 from a userJoed2@aol.com. A profile picture of the commenter is illustrated in textballoon 1904. If many comments are present, they may not all display atonce so as not to obstruct viewing.

In one embodiment of the present invention, users may add music orsoundtracks to the system and may associate those to particular projectsor to particular pages of a project. In one embodiment the granularityof adding multi-media content extends to a photo. For example if a photoin a project themed as a barnyard is a rooster, then a multimedia clipof a rooster crowing might be provided and embedded on the pagecontaining the photo of the rooster. When the page showing the user isplayed, the clip of the rooster crowing automatically plays as well. Inanother embodiment the entire slideshow might be set to some backgroundmusic that would play or loop back for the entire time the slideshow isrunning. In one embodiment a static clip associated with a page or aphoto on a page might include a small control panel such as controlpanel 1905, which enables the user to stop the clip, play the clip againmanually, or pause the clip momentarily. In one embodiment a user wouldbe able to interact with items on the page to trigger multi-media“actions” including but not limited to playing a video, playing ananimation, moving various items around the page, playing a sound ormusic, or moving to another page in the project.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a preview interface such asinterface 1900 and a slideshow window for viewing an automatedpresentation of the book are two different interfaces. In anotherembodiment both the playback widget and slideshow widget are one in thesame. In this respect the interface “look” may be different depending onwhich process the user is engaging, previewing a book or viewing afinished book in the form of a slide show. There are many possibilities.In one embodiment a photo slot might be associated with more than onephoto such that each photo slot in a slideshow could be a smallslideshow of two or three photos for example.

In an embodiment where a slideshow of a book is to be viewed through asingle presentation window having a footprint smaller than a two-pagebook spread, an algorithm analyzes the content of each page of the bookand dynamically generates a path of traversal through the page contentincluding photos, text, and other media. Page transitions between thelast traversed content on one page and the first traversed content onthe next page may be statically ordered or dynamically selected by thealgorithm from a pool of possibilities.

In one embodiment the algorithm considers for each page of the book, thestate of the previous page and the state of the next page relative tothe location or position of the navigable content and then determinesthe optimal mode of traversing the page using the single presentationwindow used to present the slide show and subsequently determines thebest available transition option to get to the next page. The algorithmcreates a tree of possibilities and selects the best fit path oftraversal for a page and the best transition to the next from the treeof possibilities. The traversal path over a page of a project book maybe defined by the current X and Y coordinates of the window on the pageand the current zoom level of the window. It is noted herein that inslideshow presentation mode, which may be different from book previewmode, the playback widget is able to zoom in and out and pan the contentof the pages during the presentation.

In one embodiment where a slideshow of a project book is viewed, theplayback widget will allow the dynamic display of user comments aboutthe book. While the Play Book Widget is traversing a page, comments madeon that area of the page, or comments that are relevant to a particulararea of a page will be displayed, along with information about the userincluding but not limited to a profile picture, first name, last nameand headline or quote.

In one embodiment of the invention the system incorporates a persistentmessage board for each photo book project termed a book wall by theinventor. A book wall allows users to post messages to each other aboutan entire project. When a user makes a note on a page of a photo bookthe note will be posted to the book wall as well and may include a linkto the page. A book wall may be opened from anywhere in the book. Thebook wall may be a section that may be navigated to and opened fromwithin a Mixbook™ editor. In one aspect an additional section might becreated where a user working on a project with multiple collaboratorscould propose ideas and suggestions for collaborators. Collaborators maybe allowed to comment or edit the creator's comments.

FIG. 20 is an exploded screenshot of the background selection portion2000 of the user interface of FIG. 8 including an advanced backgroundtouch-up section according to an embodiment of the present invention.The system of the present invention provides a unique color touch-upinterface 2006 for modifying pre-existing or newly created backgroundsthat can underlie page content in a project. Color interface 2006appears when a user clicks on interactive control 2005 labeled more.

An interactive control 2003 for acquiring backgrounds is provided.Control 2003 opens a navigation window that the user may use to browsebackground images stored on the user's system for upload to the serviceof the present invention. The navigation window also provides access toany backgrounds the user has previously saved as personal backgrounds(My Backgrounds) and other backgrounds from other project themes (ThemeBackgrounds).

Many backgrounds might have some textured surfaces like backgroundsdesigned to emulate paneling materials, brick and mortar, wood grain,and the like. Many backgrounds have asymmetric characteristics that canbe flipped so that a pair of background images is created where eachimage is a mirror of the other in the pair.

Color interface 2006 provides advanced background coloring, coloropacity adjustment, and color blending. One unique aspect of colorblending in the system of the present invention is that pre-existingbackground images created by system designers and by some Mixbook™ usersthat exhibit textural characteristics such as wood grains or brickpatterns, for example, can be enhanced with application of pure andblended colors to enhance and personalize them to newer users. Theapplications do not overwrite the original files such as system-providedtheme backgrounds for example.

FIG. 21 is a page-on-canvas view illustrating a relative page coordinatesystem according to an embodiment of the present invention. Interface2100 logically represents a single page 2103 on a canvas 2102. Page 2103is square in this embodiment so it has an aspect ratio of 1:1. Page 2103has a page size that is stored using relative units. For landscape orportrait pages the length of the shortest edge is assumed to be 1 andthe length of the longest edge is equal to the value derived by dividingthe length of the longest edge by the length of the shortest edge. Forexample, if the aspect ratio of a page is 4:3, then the height has ameasurement of 1 unit and the width has a measurement of 1.33333(landscape). The page also uses a relative coordinate system thatoriginates from the absolute center of the page.

The grid pattern of the relative coordinate system may be renderedvisible to a user or may remain invisible to a user. In one embodimentthe grid pattern may be displayed to the user, but at some level oftransparency. The 0 point on the grid is the absolute center point ofthe page.

The coordinate system is used for describing the position, size andorientation of inserted items like photos, text boxes, stickers, shapes,and so on. Other information about the content like display styles andeffects on those items including but not limited to border, shadow,glow, fill, rounding of corners, reflection, photo cropping, font size,and font style is also stored relative to the position, size andorientation of the items.

Page 2103 has a plurality of elliptical shapes (2104) placed thereongenerally located one per page corner. A star shape 2108 is located leftof center and slightly above the midline of page 2103. All of thedescribed shapes could be photo slots that are used as photoviewing/panning windows. Shapes might be used in other ways on page 2103as well, such as stickers, or text boxes in one embodiment. The pagesize in this example is square so it is described by the relativecoordinate system as −A to +A for width and −B to +B for height.

To establish a relative coordinate system on a page the 0 point orabsolute center is established first. From the absolute center of thepage, the system scales a number of relative units along the widthdirection and height direction from 0 to a negative limit and from 0 toa positive limit for both dimensions wherein a unit is an equal divisionof the total value from the negative limit to the positive limit forwidth and height.

Canvas 2102 includes a sidebar area 2101 containing the options foradding creative assets to the project like photos, layouts, stickers andbackgrounds. Additional shapes 2105 are displayed for selection by theuser. The system is aware at all times of the most current state of eachpage of a project. Logic is provided that enables the system to map thesizes, positions, and orientations of all of the items on a given page.This information is available to the system in real time as a usercontinues to add shapes to page 2103.

A shape 2106 may be a next shape selected for insert onto page 2103 asis illustrated in this example by a broken border and input devicearrow. As the shape is dragged off of the sidebar and dropped onto thecanvas as is illustrated in this example, an algorithm automaticallysizes the shape and places it on the page in an optimum position basedon the real-time data about the current positioning, orientation andsizes of the assets already on the page. The inserted shape is shape2107 having undergone a resizing and reorientation before being placedon page 2103.

In one aspect of the invention a user may auto flow content onto a pageusing a unique grouping algorithm adapted to fit a plurality of photosin the project into logical groupings. The algorithm creates logicalphoto groupings based on timestamp information and other metadatainformation from each photo. Using a wide variety of mathematicaldistributions (i.e. normal, beta), the algorithm determines which photosare related and then logically groups those photos on one page. Themetadata may include date and time that the photos were taken, titles,and other types of data. Additional inputs into the function include,but are not limited to, the average and standard deviation of the numberof photos in a group and priorities and weightings of various metadatainformation for use in grouping.

At various times throughout project creation, display, and outputprocesses, it becomes necessary to convert the relative coordinates inthe page data structure described above into physical measurements. Theconversion process allows the display of the content at any size, eitheron a display such as a computer monitor, mobile device such as a phoneor tablet, or television display, or in a physical printed format suchas a printed photo book or poster. By allowing for the translation ofthe relative coordinates and values into physical measurements, thesystem enables notification to users if any items on a page might notlook acceptable in print. For example, the system can detect if a photowill display at a size in print that is too large based on the size thatwas originally uploaded or added via partner site integrations orotherwise. By storing the data in an abstract data structure withrelative positioning and coordinates, created content can be used acrossa plurality of products and sizes.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a grouping 2200 of portrait pagesizes exhibiting similar aspect ratios. An aspect ratio grouping (ARG)is a paradigm or pattern whereby two or more output or print sizes in agiven orientation are grouped together to form a grouping. A grouping ofsimilar aspect ratios for a given orientation includes the availablespecific output sizes that a project may be printed in without requiringany content editing by the creator before print. This innovative aspectof the system enables users to output a project to a print size withinthe grouping that is consistent with the orientation of that grouping.

Grouping 2200 includes three portrait-oriented page sizes in thisexample. These are a page 2201 having a width of L1 and a height of T1;a page 2202 having a width of L2 and the same height of T1; and a page2203 having a width of L3 and a Width of T2. Grouping 2200 comprisespages of portrait orientation. Another grouping is available forlandscape orientation and still another grouping is available for squareorientation. The aspect ratios of each of the pages are very similar. Analgorithm assigns a “core” aspect ratio to a project for display that isformulated as a core aspect ratio value derived from analysis of theaspect ratios of the pages in group 2200. All page content in the sameorientation as an aspect ratio grouping is displayed at the core aspectratio. More particularly, all page content intended to be printed at aspecific page size (say 2201) will be displayed at the core aspect ratioof that specific page size's aspect ratio grouping.

In a preferred embodiment an algorithm is provided for displayingcontent at a core aspect ratio that may be printed to output endproducts like books, posters, calendars, and so on in the sameorientation without any explicit resizing steps or data repositioningsteps required of the user. A canvas described herein as an outputcanvas has a width and a height, bleed areas, and in most aspects, agutter area. The page content is presented online in display duringproject creation using a “core” aspect ratio that is derived fromanalyzing the different aspect ratios in grouping 2200.

The algorithm determines from the canvas measurements what the optimumaspect ratio of the page content will be to ensure a minimum loss ofcontent that would be cut off in the printing process. If the pagecontent aspect ratio is taller than the available output canvas aspectratio, content will be fit to the canvas such that the left and rightedges of the page content fit exactly into the viewable area (left andright edges) minus a gutter allowance. The area on top and bottom of thepage content will be cut off. On the other hand, if the page contentaspect ratio is wider than the available output canvas aspect ratio,content will be fit to the canvas such that the top and bottom edges ofthe content fit exactly into the viewable area. The page content ispositioned on the canvas such that the left or right content edge(depending on which page) is aligned to the gutter edge and content onthe opposite edge which would include the bleed area of the page is cutoff. In this way, page content can be optimally fitted to a variety ofdifferent output formats like two or more different portrait sizes for aportrait aspect ratio or two or more different sizes for landscapeaspect ratio. In general, for an aspect ratio grouping that containssquare-formatted output sizes, the ratio is ˜1. For an aspect ratiogrouping that contains portrait-formatted output sizes, the ratio is <1.For an aspect ratio grouping that contains landscape-formatted outputsizes, the ratio is >1.

The algorithm translates the core aspect ratio of the project to one ofthe selected sizes in a related aspect grouping. For example, a usermight create an eight by six (landscape) pocket photo book using the SWof the present invention. The user may opt to print and purchase a photobook that is a classic landscape size like eleven by eight and one-half.The algorithm places the original page content for each page of the bookonto the output canvas as the correct 11×8.5 classic landscape printsize without requiring the user to edit any of the original content orto manually position the original content on the page. The algorithmperforms the sizing adjustment during the output process in thebackground transparent to the user and no hard changes to stored dataare necessary.

In practice, the system, aided by algorithm, determines for each pagesize in the group, the viewable area of each page, the aspect ratios ofthe viewable areas are recorded. The total amount of error presentamongst the available aspect ratios relative to comparison with a givenaspect ratio may be determined or quantified. Using a mathematicalprogram, process, or automated calculation tool, the effective aspectratio that minimizes the function and hence the total error value isfound. The project page may then be displayed at the effective core oreffective aspect ratio.

In one embodiment, the system determines to “find” an effective aspectratio (EAR) for display during editing. EAR shall be analogous with coreaspect ratio (CAR) in this specification. Both acronyms carry the samemeaning. Given the following three candidate aspect ratios of 1.5, 1.38,and 1.65, the problem is to derive the aspect ratio that would best fiteach of the candidate aspect ratios. In this case R shall equal EAR. Rwill fall somewhere in a range bounded by 1.38 and 1.65. The total errorE can be represented using the following equation

$E = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}E_{i}}$

where n=the total number of output sizes and where i=1. E_(i) can berepresented a number of different ways. In one example,E_(i)=min(E_(iw),E_(ih)) wherein E_(iw) and E_(ih) represent the errorwhen the effective aspect ratio (EAR) denoted as R in this case, fitsthe height exactly, but spills over in the horizontal direction andwherein the reverse is also true, namely that R fits the width exactlybut spills over in the vertical direction. R will best fit the aspectratio in one of the two ways identified. E_(ih) can be represented by

$E_{ih} = {{/\frac{w_{i}}{R}} - {H_{i}/}}$

and E_(iw) can be represented by E_(iw)=/H_(i)R−w_(i)/. Therefore, usingthe original equation

$E = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}E_{i}}$

we get . . .

$E = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}{{\min \left( {{{/\frac{w_{i}}{R}} - {H_{i}/}},{{/H_{i}^{R}} - {w_{i}/}}} \right)}.}}$

In other embodiments E_(iw) and E_(ih) may be represented in other waysas well. In one embodiment a constant could be added to the derivedequation and the system could multiply through the errors. In this casewe might have an equation like

$E = {\prod\limits_{i}^{n}\left( {{\min \left( {{{/H_{i}^{R}} - {w_{i}/}},{{/\frac{w_{i}}{R}} - {H_{i}/}}} \right)} + K} \right)}$

where K could be any number>1. In one embodiment the algorithm firesautomatically any time a new product grouping of available output sizesis established. All projects electing a group of output product sizesare displayed at the CAR for that group.

FIG. 23 is a process flow chart 2300 illustrating steps for displayingproject page content at a core aspect ratio and optimizing the contentfor printing at a specified size. As described further above, analgorithm drives the process of optimally sizing and placing contentonto an output canvas of a specific size and orientation for printing.Products that may be purchased and printed are grouped by orientation(landscape, portrait, or square) and by similar aspect ratios thattranslate to specific output print sizes. The content that is displayedonline during editing and content viewing or previewing has a coreaspect ratio derived from the differing aspect ratios of the specificproducts in a grouping.

At step 2301 the aspect ratios of the specific products in an aspectratio grouping (ARG) are analyzed. The core aspect ratio value can bederived by first defining a set list of end product sizes for aspecified aspect ratio grouping. Each end product in the grouping has aviewable page area after allocation is made for the gutter area. Forexample, 0.5 inches may be allocated for the gutter making the viewablewidth area 8 inches for a page width of 8.5 inches. Therefore an 8.5×11inch page has a viewable area of 8×11 inches.

The above definition is made for every product in the same ARG. Once awidth and height dimension of the viewable area for each end product inthe group is established the system can mathematically determine a bestcore aspect ratio for the group. The core aspect ratio is the aspectratio that best fits all of the viewable areas (width and height pairs)in the group. To determine a best fit CAR, in one embodiment, the systemruns sample CAR values against the group values (2301) to quantify meanpercentage overlap errors for the group for each sample value input intothe formula. At step 2302 the algorithm derives a core aspect ratio fromthe analysis of step 2301. The sample CAR exhibiting the smallest meanerror is the best fit CAR for the group. As each end product isconsidered the system determines a percentage of overlap (left/rightand/or top/bottom) for the difference between the sample ratio and theend product ratio. The system squares the resulting error value for eachproduct in the group giving each product an error value and then takesthe mean error value for the group for that sample CAR value. The sampleresulting in the smallest mean error value becomes the accepted CAR forthe group. All content is displayed at this CAR while editing,previewing, or viewing. The data is stored for latter access in step2303.

In an independent thread, a user initiates a project at step 2304(create project) in the same orientation of the ARG of step 2301. Theproduct data in that grouping includes the output format data for all ofthe sizes included in that grouping. An ARG may include two or more thantwo products with similar but differing aspect ratios whereby all ofthose products are of different print sizes. At step 2305 the user MBEobtains the correct core aspect ratio (CAR) from storage for the contentdisplay that was derived at step 2302.

By step 2306 the user has finished the project and places an order forthe project at step 2307. The order will include a specific output sizethat is available in the grouping of products, which are all of the samebasic orientation. At step 2308 the same or a different algorithmperforms a content resize and reposition if necessary for the exactaspect ratio and size of the selected output product. This step istransparent to the creator of the project or to any user ordering theoutput format of the project.

At step 2309 the algorithm loads the page content or “places thecontent” on the output canvas. At step 2010 the project is printed. Inone aspect of the invention printing is carried out by a third-partyservice where the final output is delivered to the printer in a formatthat is print ready so not configuring need be performed at the printer.If no other products are to be printed from the output at step 2010, theprocess may end at step 2012. If the user decides to select a differentproduct to print from the same ARG for the same project, the process mayloop back to step 2307 for placing the new order for the differentproduct included in the ARG product data. Steps 2308, 2309, and 2310 arethen repeated in sequence and the process may end at step 2312 unless adifferent product is then selected from the grouping for print.

FIG. 24 is a process flow chart 2400 illustrating steps for migratingcontent from one aspect ratio grouping to another aspect ratio grouping.The system of the present invention has a mechanism driven by algorithmfor migrating project data from one aspect ratio grouping to another.Project data migration from one aspect ratio grouping to another isperformed in a manner that ensures that no created content is lostbecause of boundary issues in the process.

At step 2401, a user has a finished project created for a specificaspect ratio grouping (ARG) and displayed using a core aspect ratio(CAR). At step 2402 a user decides whether or not the project data willbe migrated to a new project in a different ARG. For example, theoriginal project may be presented as a portrait book and the user wantsto create a landscape book using all of the same information andeffects.

If at step 2402 the user decides not to migrate an existing project, theprocess does not start and simply ends at step 2403 with no actiontaken. If the user determines to create a new project in a different ARGthen the user may select a new ARG at step 2404. As previouslydescribed, an ARG is a grouping of projects of different sizes but thesame page orientation.

At step 2405 the user creates a new project in the new ARG. This isaccomplished working within a project editing interface (Mixbook™Editor). In one aspect an option for migrating project data betweendiffering formats might be made available to users as a static optionaccessible from the Web page or on a toolbar or drop-down menu of theinterface.

At step 2406 the algorithm obtains a new core aspect ratio (CAR) fromthe destination ARG and creates a new project space observing the CAR ofthe ARG. The algorithm then derives at least one multiplication factorin step 2407 for translating the current project data in the originalCAR to the project workspace under the new CAR. The algorithm multipliesthe original project data critical values by the derived multiplicationfactor or factors at step 2408. This may include project data andcontent data including the width and height of the pages, the width andheight of items, the position of items on the pages, and many differentpieces of data for effects on the items on the page.

At step 2409, the content is inserted per results obtained at step 2408according to the new CAR. The result is that all of the original projectdata gets translated to the new format without losing any content due tointersection of content with a print boundary. At step 2410, the systemdetermines if any of the new content has violated any of the printboundaries (print boundary violation (PBV) in the new format. If theprocess runs successfully and no conflicts occur, then the process endsat step 2412. If there is a boundary violation (PBV) detected at step2410, then the process may move to step 2411 whereby the system reportsan error in the translation, which may be conveyed to the user.

In a preferred application if there are any PBVs that occur they aredetected during the translation process and shown to the user in anauto-preview information alert that informs the user of the exact natureof the issue such as what the issue is and what page if not on all pagesthe issue is present in the new format. The algorithm is designed toensure that no violations will occur during the translation of contentto the new format so a determination of a violation at step 2410 wouldbe rare given the controlled environment for translating the data.Auto-preview mode ensures that any error would be detected in real timeduring the translation process and the process would suspend or pausebefore the offending error were realized in the new format giving theuser the best opportunity to resolve the error.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating system architecture 2500 forinterpolating sample and default data into a project template using aspecial markup language according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Custom photo-based projects that are theme oriented containtext boxes that are ordered based on a pre-designed project templatesuch as a project template 2501 that is created for a theme by adesigner 2502.

Designer 2502 is connected via network to runtime server (RS) 2509,which may be analogous to AS 109 of FIG. 1 above. Server 2509 has accessvia data network to a data repository 2508 adapted to contain contentsuch as pre-designed project templates, themes, and other componentsthat are integral to the process of the present invention. Any finishedproject such as project 2507 is created from a project template liketemplate 2501. Template 2501 includes a fields list 2511 that identifiesall of the system-provided fields that are part of project template2501. At the onset, all of these fields are blank with no content data,field definition data, position data, location data, orientation data,or size data included. The designer may provide all of the descriptivedata about these fields in template 2501 so that when a project isopened for editing all of the stock fields are located in the properplaces in the project. The field sequence (order of appearance of thefields when navigating the project), and field default or sample text,which are instructions prompting the user to add a specific piece ofinformation to the field when editing a project.

In this example, the designer defines each dedicated field includingwhat type of data should be inserted into each field by an eventual userof the theme-based template. The designer has access to a proprietarymarkup language termed Mixbook™ Markup Language (MBML). Designer 2502may use MBML supported by a MBML (lib) 2503 connected to the designersnetwork to define and dedicate text fields 2511 and to automaticallypopulate end product fields that correspond to these template fieldswith default or sample text. Defining a text field may be accomplishedby tagging the field with MBML. MBML allows designers of templates toinput “default” or “sample” text that will guide the user on what toenter in a given field.

MBML is used in one application by inserting double brackets (“{{”) tostart the MBML, followed by the name of the field being defined.Optionally, the name of the field may be followed by a colon (“:”), withthe “Prompt Text” that will be displayed to the user in a project wizardsuch as project wizard 2504 in order that the user to understand whatshould be entered in each field. The MBML tag may be closed for aspecific data field by double closing brackets (“}}”). It is notedherein that differing syntax may be used to define MBML markup fields orvariables other than double brackets without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention. For example, in one embodiment theMBML fields could be represented by HTML-type tags rather than doublebrackets. Furthermore, a user-friendly designer interface (notillustrated here) could be provided for convenience as is the case withother markup such as Dreamweaver™ for HTML, for example.

Two or more MBML tags may be associated to one field box withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention dependingon what the nature of the definition of that field box is. A date andtime MBML tag pair can be used to mark baby birthdates in a baby photobook. A designer might specify a date and a time using two associatedtags, for example, {{date:Date Baby Was born}} at {{time:Time Baby WasBorn}}. MBML is extensible, such that new field “types” could be definedthat perform other functions, such as inserting a page number, thecurrent date and time, the name of the user, the title of the project,and so on.

In one embodiment, an automatic field population form (AFPF) 2510running on AS 2509 is invoked by default whenever a user invokes aproject template by initiating a specific project. In this embodimentAFPF 2510 takes the appropriate MBML embedded field list 2512 andauto-populates the fields 2513 of project wizard 2504 in display beforea user with the prompt text that tells the user what data should beentered into each field. The user may then enter the appropriate dataspecified by the MBML “prompt” data of each field into project wizardfield boxes 2513, which results in auto-population of the data in thecorresponding project fields 2514 (a-d) of finished project 2507. It isnoted herein that one template field might correlate with two or moreproject fields in a finished project. Repeated fields in a finishedproject that are adapted to contain the same data are represented by asingle field in the project wizard and template.

In this example AFPF 2510 may be generated at the point of the userinvoking project wizard 2504 to enter data into project 2507. AFPF 2510auto populates fields 2513 with the correct prompt text. Another AFPFlike AFPF 2510 may be generated to auto-populate fields 2514 (a-d) infinished project 2507 when the user finishes entering all of the correctdata in fields 2513 in project wizard 2504. In one embodiment anauto-preview feature similar to that described further above is providedto project wizard 2504 that informs user 2506 if any data is enteredincorrectly into any of fields 2513. In another embodiment no projectwizard is necessary and AFPF 2512 auto-populates fields 2514 (a-c) withthe sample or prompt text that informs user 2506 what type of datashould be entered into each field. In all embodiments the entered fielddata are persisted along with the project as part of the project.

It is noted herein that MBML defines variables such as different datastrings that are interpreted as sample or instructional text that letsthe user or the system understand what data is supposed to be insertedin the end project field. A project field shall be defined as anyfeature on a project being edited that may accept text as input anddisplay the text. A project field may include but not be limited to atext box, a title bar, a photo caption, a number field, a date field, anaddress field, a header, and footer. Moreover, such project fields thatmay be automatically populated include those residing in any portion ofany type of project whether the project is in the form of a book, acard, a calendar, a mouse pad, or any other product.

FIG. 26 is a front view of a photo frame 2600 that can be automaticallysized to fit a photo according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 27 is a front view of photo frame 2600automatically-sized about a photo. Referring now to FIG. 26, photo frame2600 may be stored using relative size units and may be automaticallysized about photos of differing aspect ratios and sizes. In this viewphoto frame 2600 is not sized for fitting a photo 2601 illustratedherein as a broken rectangle. Typical resizable photo frames have fourstatic components (corners) on the frame that do not change when thephoto is resized. Photo frame 2600 includes four static corners 2604 andfour static ornamental components 2602.

A one image photo frame cannot be expanded outside of the frame'soriginal aspect ratio without stretching and distorting the frame. Frame2600 has expandable regions A and B. Expandable regions A and B areareas on the frame that may be expanded by repeating dimensionally inthe same direction. Added static components 2602 (right and left sides)and 2603 (top and bottom sides) represent ornamental attributes of theframe that would not look right if distorted by stretching or expanding.Therefore, the system determines the current size and aspect ratio ofphoto 2601 and calculates the amount of dimensional expansion requiredin each of the expandable areas of the frame.

Referring now to FIG. 27, photo frame 2600 is automatically fitted aboutphoto 2601 in this example. Static components 2604 (corners), 2602 and2603 are not changed in the auto-fitted frame. Expandable areaspreviously described as areas A and B are illustrated in this exampleafter expansion as areas C and D. In this example frame 2600 has beenautomatically sized to fit photo 2601 with no sizing change required ofthe photo. By adding symmetrical expandable areas on all sides of thephoto frame the system may use more complex ornamental photo frameswithout distorting the ornamental aspects or characteristics of thosephoto frames. The static portions of the frame remain the same in anysize or aspect ratio. Only the expandable areas C and D are changedduring the process. The system detects the photo size and current framesize before the process and then an algorithm determines thecalculations required to produce the correct sized frame for theexisting photo. When auto-flowing or remixing content in a project, theframes accompanying the photos are also automatically incorporated intothe process.

FIG. 28 is an exemplary screenshot of an editing interface 2800displaying a photo-spread including a front cover, back cover, and spineaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Editing interface2800 is analogous to interface 800 described previously. Interface 2800has a storyboard display 2801 that includes all of the pages of thephoto book being created. The inventors provide a unique paradigm forrelating items across multiple pages including special pages, in thiscase, the front cover 2803, the back cover 2804, and the spine of thebook 2805. When a user edits a spread that contains more than one page,the photos, shapes and stickers can be “overflowed” from one page toother pages within the spread. When the items are overflowing, they arelinked together such that when an item changes on one page, its linkeditem gets updated reflectively on the other page.

In this example the related item is a single landscape photo 2802 thatis spread or wrapped around three special pages namely, front cover2803, back cover 2804, and the spine 2805. In the case of photo 2802, itactively occupies all three designated special pages and editing of thephoto from any of the special pages results in changes to the photoappearing on all three pages. For example, if a user pans photo 2802 theresults of positional change are seen on all of the pages that the photooccupies. If each of the pages has one or more related items that appearon all of the pages for example, and editing performed on one of therelated items may be propagated to all of the related items on otherpages automatically.

Related items may also be moved over to one page completely, so thatoriginal item is not showing whatsoever on the other page. When thisoccurs, the item will be removed from the page it is no longer visibleon. In one embodiment a user may take an item that exists on a lastpage, for example, and may “sweep” the item off of that page toautomatically create a next page with the same layout and theme that ishosting the related item.

In one aspect of the present invention a pages position may be reflectedusing signed integers, which may also be used to model a specialpattern. In this example, signed integers are used to describepositioning of the front cover 2803 (signed integer −1) and back cover2804 (signed integer −2). Other special pages like foldable posterspreads (within a book) and inside cover jackets may also be positionedusing signed integers. There may be a number of different position typesto consider including number (any position value>0), special position,group position, pattern opposition, and function position.

It is duly noted herein that every product available to create at theservice site like books, cards, calendars, and photo books, is acompilation of pages. A page is the fundamental canvas unit observed bythe service although other unit definitions may be observed. A book is acollection of many pages. “Pages” is not just a reference to the insidesof a book, but it can also refer to the cover pieces. The front cover,spine, and back cover are each pages which can be stitched together.

Many times in the process of creating a project, it makes sense toassociate certain pages together. When a user edits a foldable card, forexample, the user may want to be able to move an item from the bottomportion to the top part of the card. From the perspective of the backend data, the foldable card comprises two different canvas units piecedtogether.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an asset recommendation systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. In one embodimentof the present invention, asset recommendations are made to a user whois editing a current project using the Mixbook™ collage editor. Systemarchitecture 2900 includes a user 2901 that is currently online withruntime server 2904 running an asset recommendation engine (ARE) 2905.The system of the invention has access to all of the assets that havebeen designed by system designers, users whom may be registered as assetcontributors, and any other user contributions to the system. Creativeassets 2903 include all of the stickers, shapes, backgrounds, layouts,photos, and any other accessible imagery.

When a user edits a project, and selects a theme, theme-based assetsbecome accessible to that user's Mixbook™ editor as illustratedpreviously in FIG. 8. In the canvas-editing interface (MBE), one cancreate a hierarchical recommendation system for presenting users withcontent to use in their current and future projects. By using themes asthe building blocks for this hierarchal asset recommendation system, wecan then link a theme to a project and utilize the creative content ofthe project as the basis for the theme.

In one embodiment, a project can be used by the system as a basis fortheme creation in order to facilitate creation of more projects based onthe theme. This theme creation process can be leveraged by bundling allforms of creative assets from a user-created project into a theme. Ifthe creator of the project so chooses, all of the assets in the projectcan serve as the basis for a theme, which then serves as the creativebasis for creating future projects. For example, if a user creates a“Mother's Day” project in the form of a photo book, they can use thisproject as the basis for a theme called “Mother's Day Theme.” This“Mother's Day Theme” can then serve as the basis for users across thesite to create their own “Mother's Day” projects. They will be able toutilize the canvas pages and all other creative assets that were addedto the original “Mother's Day” project that was used to create thetheme.

In one embodiment the assets are related to a specific theme a user hasselected for a project. Creative assets like backgrounds stickers,layouts, and so on appear in the interface as thumbnails along with theuser's photos, etc. In one embodiment asset recommendation engine 2905is adapted to list recommendations by relativity. For example, if a userlike user 2901 is working a project that is baby themed, then thestickers relating to that theme would appear in the user's editinginterface. For example, hierarchical recommendation may take the form ofsticker categories 2906. Categories 2906 include “My Stickers” as thetop level of stickers (the first to appear in the interface). “Mystickers” would include the stickers added directly to the project bycontributors to the project. “Theme stickers” would next appear andwould include the system-provided theme stickers that go with thatparticular theme. “Recommended Stickers” may include other themestickers used in the projects from the themes that this project's themeshares a theme category with (Baby Themes).

Creative assets may be recommended on a contextual basis as well. Forexample, if a user is editing a specific page that has baby stickers onit and clicks the sticker tab other baby stickers will be shown to theuser, including the ones used on that page. Other recommendation schemasmay be practiced in accordance with the present invention withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

A cloud labeled All Users 2902 may represent all of the users currentlyediting projects, or all of the users registered with the system. Assetsmay be recommended to user 2901 based on what all of the current usersor based on what all of the users have determined to be the best or mostused or most popular assets like theme-based stickers. In creativeassets 2903 clouds 2709 represent possible recommendation genres. Forexample, if the asset is stickers, a recommendation might be the mostpopular stickers based on use count among all users. Another categorymight be the most popular stickers based on use count of only thefriends of the user receiving the recommendation. Another category mightbe recommendation of the stickers that might best fit a specific project(contextual). Yet another category might be a recommendation of creativeassets based on bandwidth considerations. There are many variedpossibilities. Any type of creative asset might be considered forrecommendation using contextual or hierarchical recommendation using ARE2905. Recommendations may be made to users according to analyzed usagecounts, friend relationships among the content creators, and contentcharacteristics like width and heights or content meta-data such asphoto data.

In one embodiment a single asset recommendation system analogous to ARE2905 is provided for recommending creative assets stored by the systemto users editing a project or a project page. Assets may include but arenot limited to the categories of stickers, shapes, backgrounds, layouts,and frames. In a preferred embodiment the asset recommendation system isimplemented in software and integrated with the GUI for recommendingcreative assets. In one embodiment the asset recommendation engine is aback-end data process that works in the background to rank creativeassets and serve relevant assets according to ranking order. In thiscase each creative asset considered has a score card that may reflect afinal score or value based on one or more conditions or “weightings”.

The system is adapted to receive server calls relative to user GUIactivity and to parse information about creative assets stored for use.A ranking function is provided that ranks creative assets based onfiltered and/or or unfiltered statistical data known about usage andcharacteristics of the asset input against one or more pre-set rules forranking the appeal of that asset. The system includes a server functionfor serving the recommended assets into the GUI. In this way the mostrelevant assets may appear in the interface closer to the top followedby the lower ranked assets and so on per asset category. The process isdriven by algorithm and may fire each time the user clicks on an assetcategory to browse available creative assets stored by the system of theinvention.

Both hierarchical and contextual recommendations can be made in concertto users operating the GUI. When a user clicks on an existing project toresume editing, the project's creative assets are loaded into theproject pages as described further above. These creative assets are alsolisted in hierarchical order in the asset selection interface, typicallythe sidebar area of the editing GUI. In one aspect the hierarchy is MyStickers, followed by Theme Stickers, followed by Recommended Stickers.The ranking portion of the engine ranks My Stickers or “ProjectStickers” as being most relevant to the project because they are alreadyestablished in the project by the project contributors. Therefore, thesealready used stickers will be stickers that have the greatestprobability of being re-used in the project.

The ranking engine ranks theme stickers as the next level of importancebecause these stickers are designed to be used in the theme that theuser's project falls under. Now, the ranking engine looks at stickersthat are stored that have been used in other user-created projectssharing the same theme or belonging to the same theme category but thathave not yet been used in the instant project. The system ranks thesestickers according to a weighting algorithm that calculates the appealof each qualifying sticker according to one or a combination ofparameter constraints.

In one example, the recommended stickers sent to a user for display inthe recommended stickers window might be the highest ranking stickersbased on a use statistic filtered by user type. For example, this user'sfriends, prefer the following recommended stickers based on the numberof times they have been used in projects sharing the same theme or eventhe same theme category. On the other hand, the system may rank thestickers based on some other preset condition that is relevant to thesituation at hand or may rank stickers based on likeness to stickersalready selected for use in a project or on a project page.

In one embodiment the asset recommendation requirements are a receivingfunction for receiving server calls relative to user GUI activity beingmonitored, a weighting function for ranking creative assets based oninput against one or more rules for ranking asset appeal, and a serverfunction for serving the recommended assets into a GUI. In simplepractice of the invention includes (a) receiving an indication of a userselection of a project or project page for edit at an assetrecommendation engine; (b) calculating or updating current scores forthe assets that qualify for service based on project, project page, andtheme-based characteristics; and (c) serving the assets into the GUIasset browsing windows with the most relevant assets based on analyzedscore served first followed by lesser relevant assets.

In one embodiment, the system of the present invention can select one ormore photos from a user's project for recommendation in a new product.The system stores the in-depth page positioning information for all ofthe items placed in a user's project. The metadata about each of theuser's photos, for example, is persisted along with the in-depthpositioning information with each item stored for use in the project.

The system may therefore make intelligent recommendations regarding theimportance and relevance of photos and other assets to a user. Throughthis analysis, the system can make automated suggestions of single ormultiple photo products that the user may have an interest inpurchasing.

By analyzing asset usage information and other data the system canaccess the items stored for a specific project that may contain, forexample, hundreds of photos, and select one photo or a few photos thatwould qualify for application to single or multi-photo products likecanvas prints, coffee mugs, mouse pads and so on.

Referring now back to FIG. 29, the system may use ARE 2905 to make anassessment of which image or photo assets in a product are goodcandidates for isolation for a single or multi-photo product. The termmulti-photo refers to a product with two to several photos, for example,where the user had many photos in the project pool. A coffee mug mayinclude a photo wrapped around the mug or several photos positionedabout the mug. There are many different possibilities.

The ARE may first access the creator's project photos stored in thedatabase. Then the system might weigh data associated with each photoused in the project against one or more business rules. After weighingthe results, ARE 2905 may select one or more than one photo based onweighted score. In one aspect each item has a score card. The system mayfinally suggest or recommend one or more than one photo product as an upsell at such time the user wishes to make a purchase. A unique aspect ofthe recommendation is that the system may present one or more views ofthe suggested product already loaded with the creator's photos selectedby the system.

ARE 2905 analyzes any tags attributed to photos and the descriptions ofand captions associated with those photos. ARE 2905 might consider theactual size of images for certain product types like canvas prints, forexample. If a photo is a background that spans two pages in a photobook, it may be a good candidate for a canvas print. ARE 2905 canconsider the number of times a photo is used in the same project. Therecommendation may be updated as a user edits a project such that when auser is ready to purchase the project in print form the system mightalso recommend that the user purchase another product that can bedisplayed to the user through the GUI with the recommended photos inplace on the product. The system might offer an up sell option of one ormore than one product exhibiting the selected photos.

FIG. 30 is an architectural diagram illustrating a printing network 3000according to an embodiment of the present invention. Printing network3000 includes a user 3001 connected online to a runtime server 3002.Runtime server 3002 is analogous to runtime servers previously describedin this specification. Runtime server 3002 includes a digital mediumcoupled thereto and adapted to contain all of the SW and data requiredto enable server function.

When user 3001 is editing a project using a Mixbook™ editor (MBE) suchas MBE 3006, for example, the user is connected in session with server3002. As such, the user may decide to print a finished project such as aphoto book by invoking a printing option such as print project option3008 illustrated in exploded view. Such an action invokes a printingengine 3007 that is responsible for rendering the user's project in aready state for printing according to a final end product selected bythe user.

The printing engine sends output files for printing to a third-partyprinting service 3003. Printing service 3003 represents any onlineprinting service. Third-party printer 3003 includes a printing server3004 and a connected printer 3005 representing printing capability.Printing engine 3007 is a flash based print engine that is enhanced toproduce high resolution output files to print. Print engine 3007 is asingle print engine that is involved from the point of creating aproject to the point of printing out the project.

A flash-based print engine has some drawbacks that need to be overcomein order to print larger high resolution files. Outputting large formatprints for printing from a flash based editor is very difficult to do.The inventors provide enhancements that enable the system to take flashcontent and produce a near pixel-perfect reproduction of a user's workin the high resolution formats that professional printers normallyrequire. Traditionally print systems take the back end data and thenrecreate the content for printing through a second engine such as aJava-based print engine or a C-application. Print engine 3007 is a pointfor point engine and can re-create content at any dots per inch (DPI)required by the printer.

In one embodiment gutter areas of printed products are optimized forview after print. In most situations a traditional printed book having agutter area will have content sucked into the gutter area where it ishard to view, or there will be a color strip applied to the gutter areawhereby the color strip appears somewhat unprofessional. Print engine3007 functions to solve the above problems by optimizing the size of thegutter area and content displayed on a page before printing. Inparticular, the system of the invention implements a unique method ofgutter size calculation and content display logic for printableproducts.

Based on other content optimization algorithmic results, a guttercalculation algorithm calculates the best size for the gutter based inpart on the aspect ratio grouping. The gutter area is intelligentlysized in order to minimize the amount of content that is not viewable onprinted book products due to the glue that lies in the gutter betweentwo pages on a given spread.

The gutter sizing algorithm works in conjunction with a content sizingalgorithm to balance the two extremes, one being no gutter allowance,and the other being too much gutter allowance. No gutter allowanceresults in content hidden by the glued area in between pages. Too muchallowance causes the area defined as gutter to be displayed visibly tothe user.

FIG. 31 is a process flow chart illustrating steps for printing largeoutput images according to an embodiment of the present invention. Atstep 3101, the system pulls a project for print from a print queue.Users that order printed products are taken through an ordering processafter which their print jobs are queued for servicing. A project forprint may be a calendar, a wedding book, a baby book, or any photo-basedproduct with one or more pages. At step 3102, the system invokes aprinting engine analogous to Flash print engine 3007 describedpreviously. At step 3103 the printing engine accesses or otherwiseacquires the project for print. Pages of the project are the canvasesthat contain the photos, stickers, shapes, and text. A book spine isalso considered a special page as described earlier in thisspecification.

At step 3104 the print engine processes the project pages and encodesthe pages for printing. In this step the print engine reads the page andattempts to render the page as a snapshot encoded in some image formatlike a bitmap image, PNG image (Microsoft), or a jpeg image format.During processing of any of the project pages the system determines atstep 3105 if there are any problems with the process so far like anylimit errors regarding overall page size or weight. This step isrequired because there are specific limitations using a Flex/Flash-basedprinter that prevents snapshot taking of images at higher resolutions orif the snapshot is allowed it results in a huge drain on computingresources (low memory error). In most instances any content sizing orresolution issues with the individual photos in the project pages areresolved through a print warning system described further above that ispart of the MBE. Therefore, any issues with any of the atomic elementswithin the project like content and print boundary conflicts should havebeen resolved before pre-processing for print begins.

Typically, in a generic process an output image would be renderednormally and then a snapshot of the image would be taken for print.However, quality would downgrade with larger images printed using anon-optimized printer and printing process. Likewise, scaling down theimage or image content on a page would reduce print quality. Forexample, a 12×12 image for print at 300 DPI (desired resolution forquality in print) would require roughly 3600×3600 pixels. If at step3105 the system determines that there are no errors the system mayoptionally embed the page images into a PDF document for printing fromthe PDF format at step 3109. The output image could be embedded intosome other application like MS Word without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention.

It is noted herein that the print engine prepares all of the pages inbatch before releasing the materials for printing. The system thendetermines at step 3110 if the pre-printing process has been completedfor that project. If the system determines that the page pre-processingis not complete for all of the pages of a project, then the processfalls back to step 3104 until all of the pages are pre-processedincluding special pages like the front cover, back cover, spine, insidejackets, and any other ‘special’ pages within the project. When thesystem determines that all of the processing is complete for all of theproject pages, then the print engine releases the project as a print jobto be sent to the end printing system at step 3111.

If at step 3105 the system determines that there are one or more limiterrors preventing the print engine from taking a single snapshot of theentire page, the offending page may be tiled into two or more imagetiles of smaller size at step 3106. The print engine may be adapted toperform this task. In one embodiment this task may be passed on toanother application for tiling and stitching photos. The smaller tiles(snapshots) created in step 3106 may be saved to memory by the printengine as uncompressed raw byte array (RBA) files for each page in agiven project that was required to be split at step 3105.

In one embodiment an image tiling module is provided and integrated withthe print engine. The print engine may automatically sense if the pixelsize of an image is greater than a pre-defined image size threshold forhigh resolution printing and if so tiles the image and saves theindividual image tiles to memory for later reconstitution.

In a preferred embodiment, the print engine is adapted to detect imagesthat require tiling by algorithm. In one embodiment, the algorithmcalculates the threshold for any image submitted for printing byleveraging a mathematical formula that includes the size (width andheight) of the print area of the image and the limit value for the printengine to take a single snapshot. In a preferred embodiment the printengine is a Flash print engine. In one embodiment the threshold isexpressed in dots per inch (DPI). Using the algorithm, a 12×12 imagewould have a DPI threshold of about 341 DPI over which tiling would berequired to maintain a good quality print. For a 14×11 inch page, theDPI threshold would be about 330 DPI. It will be understood by one withskill in the art of mathematics that there may be more than onemathematical approach that could be implemented to derive the thresholdlimit value for determining if an image for print needs to be tiledwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The smaller tiles created at step 3107 are reconstituted back into asingle page image at step 3108 using an outside image stitching tool.Optionally, the process resolves back to step 3109 where the page imageis embedded into a PDF file for print. In one embodiment PDF files aregenerated by the print engine with layers and vectors. The print engineis able to rasterize certain portions of a PDF file while generatingother portions of the file in vector to retain the best print qualityfor page content. The process requires embedding of fonts.

At step 3110 the system determines if processing is finished for all ofthe pages in the project. If the system determines that processing isnot complete at step 3110, then the process jumps back to step 3104. Theprocess typically runs for a batch if there is more than one page imagein a project.

With a normal effects filter like a shadow effect filter, flash willprevent the effect from appearing about the page image or other contenton the page image like photos and shapes at higher resolution requiredfor quality printing. For example, if a user has a large full-page photowith a drop shadow effect around it the effect would not be visible atall at higher resolutions required for printing. Other effects aretreated similarly such as glow, reflection, and so on. Filter effectswill not be visible if the filter area is greater than about 15,000,000pixels. The system enabled by the print engine provides a smallerversion of each ordered filter and renders those into bitmap images.This bitmap image (one per filter) is then scaled up to the filtersperceived size.

In one embodiment the printing system may tile the background of a pageimage by mirroring it on all edges to create a buffer zone around atrimable area of a printed project. If book trimming ever invades thisarea the mirrored effect is considered more aesthetic than viewing ablank white strip around the edges. In one embodiment of the presentinvention users may configure a project to print using one or moredimensional ink printing techniques on certain content contained withintheir projects or on whole page images. In one embodiment certaindimensional ink printing effects may be preordered by the system bydefault.

In one embodiment the print configuration engine is implemented insoftware and is integrated with the Mixbook™ editor (GUI) and includes acommunications link to a compatible print server and printer connectedto the data network. In one embodiment tasks are deposited in a printqueue. An effect filter size reduction module is provided for reducingthe filter size. In this case, the print engine automatically senses viathe effects filter size-reduction module if the area of a filter isgreater than a pre-defined threshold and if so produces a smaller filterembedded into a bitmap image after which the bitmap image is scaled backup to the filters original size.

FIG. 32 is an elevation view of a photo book project 3200 undergoingediting for dimensional printing according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. Dimensional ink printing is a relatively newtechnology that enables three-dimensional effects to be produced inprint relative to photos, shapes, stickers, borders, and text contentwithin a project. More particularly, dimensional printing allows variousareas on the printed canvas to have a “raised” or “3D” look to them.Dimensional printing today is generally accomplished by using a KodakNexpress™ printer, and providing a secondary map to the original imagewhich instructs the printer on which areas to “rise” and by how much.

While the end printer is enabled for three dimensional printing, theprint engine in conjunction with the Mixbook Editor™ creates the threedimensional print instructions or “maps”, which are layered over theassociated content to instruct the end printer what areas should beraised and by what depth to print the effects. In a preferredapplication all products are configured for print and then sent to athird-party printing service to be printed out.

Referring now to FIG. 32, project 3200 is assumed to be presented withinthe Mixbook Editor™ (MBE) of the present invention. Project 3200 is aphoto book in this example, but could be any other type of project suchas calendar or poster without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention. Photo book 3200 includes a page containing one largephoto 3201 placed in a photo slot as evidenced by the panning controlcircle in the center of the photo. As described further above, when auser clicks on photo 3201 editing toolbar 3203 immediately appears toallow a variety of edit options including calling up an additionalstyles interface 3202. Styles interface 3202 includes an option forpre-configuring photo 3201 to be printed using dimensional ink toproduce a three-dimensional (3D) effect on the printed version.

In this example, styles editing interface 3202 includes various editingoptions including an option labeled 3D for dimensional printing. A usermay invoke interface 3202 by clicking on an icon 3203 in the automaticediting toolbar 3202. In this example, a user clicks on 3D (DIMPrinting) to invoke an algorithm that “reads” the photo color histogramand/or perhaps other photo data and creates several thumbnail images ofphoto 3201 for preview whereby each thumbnail exhibits a different stockdimensional print effect as it would look on photo 3201. In thisembodiment the default raised levels may be previewed in styles editor3202 visually in the preview panel. The user may select or mouse overany thumbnail in the auto-preview panel to see the effect on photo 3201.

It may be difficult to “see” the raised effect just by looking at athumbnail. Therefore, in one embodiment color that is indicative ofareas that will be raised by default in each preview thumbnail isapplied to each of the thumbnails to point out in each case where theraised areas are. The intensity of such a color may indicate degree ordepth of the 3D effect applied.

In one embodiment the algorithm changes every pixel in the “raised” areaof photo 3201 to produce a shadow effect. In this case areas that aremore raised will appear lighter in color and the areas that are lessraised or not raised will appear darker. Areas with more height willcast shadows across the areas with less height using the shadow effect.Other methods to denote to a user that specific areas of an item havebeen raised are also possible.

A project may be configured simply by displaying in the editor, a pagecanvas for editing; selecting or highlighting an image or item on thepage canvas, invoking a dimensional print effect configuration interfaceby selecting an interactive button on a toolbar displayed automatically,or by implementing keyboard shortcut to execute the interface, andselecting an option for applying one or more three dimensional effectsfrom the interface. In one embodiment dimensional print settings includeautomatic generation of a three dimensional print effect whereby theautomatic process is responsible for analyzing color data of the image,consulting one or more rules relative to the analysis of color data, anddetermining from the consultation which areas of the image should beraised and to what depth. A depth map is generated for the image, thedepth map instructing a printer which portions of the image to raise andby what additional depth to achieve the three dimensional print effect.

In one embodiment, a method for configuring a project for threedimensional printing includes displaying in the editor, a page canvasfor editing, selecting or highlighting an image or item on the pagecanvas, invoking a dimensional print effect configuration interface byselecting an interactive button on a toolbar displayed automatically asa result of the previous item selection or by implementing keyboardshortcut to execute the interface, and finally selecting an option forapplying one or more three dimensional effects from the interface to theitem. The effects may be automatically previewed in the editor.

In one embodiment a user may further click on customize to open adrop-down section that may contain a slider and one preview pane. Insuch a case, a user may be enabled to select pre-defined or mappedportions of a photo by mouse input and then operate the slider tointensify or detensify the effect (raise or lower) the depth level ofdimensional printing associated with the specific area of the photo. Thealgorithms used to adjust content for dimensional printing rely on aseries of pre-defined rules that govern what items may be dimensionallyprinted and how items are analyzed for “best fit” dimensional printing.In one embodiment, the subsystem parses a selected item and thensuggests or recommends a style and depth of dimensional printing for anitem like a photo for example.

When a user accepts a dimensional printing option for an item thealgorithm creates a depth map for the image page or photo that isapplied as a layer over the photo image. Depth map options might includehaving a higher raise at the edges, having a higher raise on one edgevs. another edge, raising certain areas of the image, etc. In oneembodiment the system denotes to the user which areas of an item likephoto 3201 will be raised by application of one of several possibleinterfacing methods like applying 3D shading to the item, a glowingeffect, an icon next to the item, a highlight, outlines, and many moreoptions. Project templates that include stock items like photos shapes,stickers, and text boxes could be created by designers to includedefault settings for dimensional printing applied to individual ones orall of the items available with the template.

In another embodiment an algorithm intelligently selects which areas ofa page or item should be raised in print to produce an optimum 3D effectbased on one or more pre-defined rules. When a user selects auto-raisefor example, the algorithm may analyze all of the items on the pageincluding shapes, stickers, photos, text frames, borders, and so on.Aspects subject to analysis include, but are not limited to, colorsused, photos used, text entered, numbers of items on a page, colordistribution patterns in the product layout, color distribution patternsin inserted photos, and so on. Analysis may also consider size or aspectratio of an item; the depth of the item on its canvas in relation toother items; size or aspect ratio of surrounding items; and any effectscurrently applied to an item or surrounding items such as drop shadowand its associated properties; or otherwise comparing the item withsurrounding items.

After a page is analyzed, potentially considering some or all of theanalyzing points mentioned above, the algorithm chooses the best areasto raise and the best depths to raise the pixels in raised areas. Thealgorithm may then indicate to the user as described further above whichareas will be raised in preview. The user may ultimately have the optionof accepting the “system recommendation” or not. Various methods couldbe utilized to determine areas that should be raised over other areas ofa photo, item, or page. The system might determine the most common coloron a page and may raise all of the pixels exhibiting that color to aspecified depth. The system stores the “height” of various items on aper-pixel basis. A dimensional attribute is added to the normal pixeldata so instead of red, green, blue, and alpha (opacity/transparencyratio) (RGBA) the pixel is defined as RGBA and pixel depth (D). Everyitem having raised pixels on a page will have its own depth map thatwill document the data so that it may be transmitted to an end printeroperated by a print partner for end fulfillment. The depth D may bedifferent for pixels in separate raised items and for pixels within asame item.

Rules for auto-raising elements of a project might include raisinglighter areas of a texture over darker areas. All text of a specificfont type might be raised. Rules may be pre-configured for each type ofitem, for example sticker rules might be different than shape rules.Areas within stickers might be raised based on color distribution withinthe sticker. Frames and borders may be raised by default. Theauto-dimensional print configuration algorithm will rely on the rules togenerate depth maps for any items containing raised pixels. In oneembodiment user experience may be fed back into the system to helpdesigners create new default applications for dimensional printconfigurations.

In addition to enabling efficient utilization of assets available withinthe system, designers pre-build projects from starting projects. When auser starts a project, the system saves the starting version of the bookto the database. Many copies of the project are then prebuilt for users.When a user begins a project, we start them off with a book that looksexactly like the project that the designers created (minus the photos).The resulting project is prebuilt so all the system has to do is updatethe foreign keys to reference the projects new owner, making the processvery efficient to the end user. Another unique optimization isencouragement of copying projects.

The system allows users to create a copy of a project and allow the“copier” to modify all the contents of that project and (optionally) useall the photos in the new project. Remixing a project means to take acurrent project and create another digital copy of it on the system. Inthis way new users can quickly and efficiently make an existing projecttheir own. The publishing interface portion of the Mixbook Editor™ hascontrols that allow users to gauge the level of collaboration, viewingaccess, and “copy” rights of their projects. The system enables “open”projects where any other members can view contribute and copy.

It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that the network-based,photo-based project creation and editing system of the invention may beprovided using some or all of the mentioned features and componentswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Itwill also be apparent to the skilled artisan that the embodimentsdescribed above are specific examples of a single broader inventionwhich may have greater scope than any of the singular descriptionstaught. There may be many alterations made in the descriptions withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

1. In a photo collage editor implemented in software residing on andexecutable from a digital medium, a method for configuring a project forthree dimensional printing comprising the steps: (a) displaying in theeditor, a page canvas for editing; (b) selecting or highlighting animage or item on the page canvas; (c) invoking a dimensional printeffect configuration interface by selecting an interactive button on atoolbar displayed automatically as a result of step (b) or byimplementing keyboard shortcut to execute the interface; and (d)selecting an option for applying one or more three dimensional effectsfrom the interface.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the editor isaccessible in the form of a graphics user interface (GUI) through aWebsite on the Internet.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein in step (a),the page is displayed in a view port in the editor.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein in step (b), there are one or more photos with orwithout text captioning.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein in step (b)there are one or more items including one or more text boxes with text,one or more frames or borders, and one or more stickers.
 6. The methodof claim 1 wherein in step (c), the configuration interface is executedthrough a styles menu, dimensional print effect being an option.
 7. Themethod of claim 1 wherein in step (c), the configuration interface is astandalone application.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the applicationof three-dimensional printing is automated and is transparent to theuser.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the application ofthree-dimensional printing is at least in part manual and userinitiated.
 10. The method of claim 1 further including a step (e) forinvoking an algorithm that reads the photo color histogram and/or otherphoto data and creates several thumbnail images of the image or itemunder edit, each thumbnail image for preview whereby each thumbnailexhibits a different stock dimensional print effect as it wouldotherwise look.
 11. A method for automatic generation of a threedimensional print effect for an item in an image editor comprising thesteps: (a) analyzing data relative to the item; (b) consulting one ormore rules relative to the analysis of step (a); (c) determining fromthe consultation of step (b) which areas of the item should be raisedand to what depth; and (d) generating a depth map for the item, thedepth map instructing a printer which portions of the item to raise andby what additional depth to achieve the three dimensional print effect.12. The method of claim 11 wherein the editor is accessible in the formof a graphics user interface (GUI) through a Website on the Internet.13. The method of claim 11 wherein in step (a), the data analyzed is acolor histogram or other color data.
 14. The method of claim 11 whereinin step (b), the rules are generic to the item type selected forapplication of three dimensional ink effect.
 15. The method of claim 11wherein in step (b), some rules describe a default application of threedimensional effect to all of a same type of item.
 16. The method ofclaim 11 wherein in step (c), the depth values of the raised pixels arepersisted along with the pixel data.
 17. The method of claim 11 whereinin step (d), the depth map is sent to a printer hosted on the internet.